Leave Me Alone!
by Berlioz II
Summary: Kaori's worked very, very hard to get over her old Sakaki fixation, but why is Sakaki constantly butting her nose in her life now? "Will you just leave me alone!" ON EXTENDED HIATUS. WILL RETURN TO THIS SOME DAY.
1. The Grand Slam

_All right, this is just something I started to write. I have even less of a plan for this than I did for my last large story, but the idea's been bugging me for a while now so I guess it's just best to get it out of my system. I don't have the least idea where this will eventually go, but I guess I'll find that out when I get there. The ending is a total blank and it can go essentially anywhere... and hopefully in a not over-used direction. I'll set a five chapters minimum goal, but I'll see how many I can sqeeze out (hopefully at least seven). Anyway, enjoy... or don't._

_Azumanga Daioh © Kiyohiko Azuma  
Original Story © Berlioz II_

_

* * *

On Thursday, May 29th, 2014, at 4.25 pm, a train leaves a train station as a little boy watches in awe._

_At the same time, on the terrace of a restaurant across town, the passing traffic causes the water to ripple in one half-filled glass on the table after a dinner._

_At 4.45 pm, a drunken Sawamoto Harima laments about being suddenly fired from his job and passes out on a bus stop._

_A few minutes later, two young women walk down a street a few blocks away, the other silent and the other talking animatedly..._

"...And then this girl comes out of nowhere, and starts yapping on about how she was going to take me down. I couldn't believe my ears," Kagura excitedly recited her recent sporting entanglement to a passive-as-ever Sakaki as they were walking around Tokyo's less busy streets. These two girls had a lot of history behind them and a lot of incidents that could have provided a complete story on their own, but what we are concerned with here centers squarely on totally different set of leggings that were to cause this particular yarn to be spun.

In the intervening seven years since graduating from high school, the two girls had both gone down their own respective paths in life. Once finally out of the university she had attended, Kagura had determinedly followed her athletic pursuits to become a fairly accomplished athlete with great promises to become a force to be reckoned with. She had already participated in many a sporting event frequented by business heavy-weights, reaped success in her field as a star runner with gusto to be one of the best, and was even proclaimed in Tokyo Sport as the most exciting new talent of the future.

Sakaki on her own hand had followed with her passion for animals and had become a veterinarian. However, due to her sensitivity of seeing animals in pain and sometimes being forced to put them to sleep (not to mention the rather snappy attitude of some of her clients), she had ultimately given up on the profession and done the second best option for her by setting up her own little pet store. The move had been enough to make her life happier than in her previous profession, and she had at the same time become quite adept at handling animals as well, so that she did not need to continuously be in pain for being bitten.

"...so I just told her 'Let's race'. Wiped that cocky smirk right off her face," Kagura finished and gave a boisterous laugh.

Regardless of the time their professions demanded from them nowadays, both had remained lucky enough to be able to keep the old ties of friendship alive with the rest of their clique, with Tomo, Yomi and Ayumu often hanging around with the other two when time allowed. The only one not seen around was Chiyo, who had migrated to the United States when following her future studies and therefore only kept in touch via e-mail. Regardless of this, the old high school group was still alive and healthy and just as tight-knit as ever.

Today, however, it was just Kagura and Sakaki enjoying each others company as both had to their good fortune been able to take some free time from their activities. The day had been quite an enjoyable one for them, too, as they had went to the park to admire the beauty of summer, had taken part in a small frisbee tournament with a couple of other people they chanced to meet there, had gone to a movie, ate big ice cream bowls in a little cafe they came across, and generally just laid back with no obligations to bother with the entire day.

But now, as the clock was already starting to approach five in the evening, they had decided to call it the day and were now on their way to their homes.

"Hey, Sakaki. I got a great idea. What say _we_ race?" Kagura suddenly suggested.

"Race?" Sakaki said in her usual passive tones.

"Yeah! Trust me, it'll be great! And this time, I bet I can beat you as I've been seriously training," Kagura boasted. Regardless of dedicating her life to being a runner and was praised for it, it still bugged her immensely that to this day she had never yet been able to beat Sakaki, the one person who didn't even seem to care at all for sports in the first place. It frankly ate on her competitive side like her own personal Mount Everest she just _had _to conquer. But now she was prepared and today would be the day history would be made. "Come on. You're not afraid are you?"

Sakaki just sighed as she nodded in affirmation to accepting the challenge. She never really liked arguing and felt it was just easier to go with the flow. And with Kagura, that usually was the most time-saving method. She was just thankful Tomo wasn't there right now along with them.

"All right! On the count of three then. One... Two... THREE!!"

And with that the two sped off at a speedy gait, Kagura pushing herself to the limit with a ferocious look on her face, while Sakaki just limped beside her with seemingly no effort at all. The street, buildings and people flashed past the two as their efforts remained on pretty much the same level for the first few minutes. But as the girls kept on running, little by little Sakaki seemed to edge her way past Kagura, much to the shock of the athlete.

_No, no, how is this possible?! I'm supposed to be the high performer here, and she still goes faster? What is she, a robot in disguise or something? _Kagura mumbled in her head.

The two snapped past a corner, dodging other people walking on the sidewalk, completely immersed in their current task at hand. Little did they notice that at that very moment a smaller woman just happened to fumble out of the post office by the street while precariously carrying a large cardboard box.

When the realisation hit them that somebody was in their way, it was already too late to do anything about it as the two were moving simply too fast to stop their progress. Sakaki was the first to ram into the person in front of her followed immediately after by Kagura, causing the whole bunch of them to tumble onto the street in a heap and made the box the other woman was carrying roll a little way off to the side.

It took a while for the group to figure out exactly what was their current status, the jolt having been enough to momentarily dislodge their brains from this particular plane of existence. However, little by little they started to come back in control of their own bodies and perception. The two sporting girls slowly started to get off from the top of the petite woman crushed below them, but if they were shocked before as they realised impact was inevitable, they were perhaps even more shocked upon noticing who had ended up underneath them.

"Kaorin!?" Kagura blurted out while Sakaki was simply content to gasp.

Indeed, it was Aida Kaori, their former classmate and stalwart neurotic stargazer. Neither Sakaki or Kagura had really seen her since graduating from high school, but she hadn't changed all that much to make identification difficult.

"Ummmmhhh..." Kaori groaned as she was splayed on the sidewalk with her eyes closed.

"Hey, Kaorin... you okay?" Kagura continued her questioning with a slight hint of concern.

"Umh... I know that voice..." Kaori said lowly as she pried open one of her eyes to peer up at her assailant. "Kagura..."

Kaori was obviously not particularly pleased about being mowed down like that when she was just minding her own business, and she certainly didn't try to hide that displeasure. This was definitely something that Kagura didn't fail to notice as her brow started to sweat.

"Hehe... L-Long time no see, eh?" she said, trying to put on a flippant spin on her words, but not succeeding entirely with it, her tone of voice being tinged with a definite nervous sound in it. As mild as Kaori usually was, Kagura had not forgotten that there were times when she could turn into something very frightening indeed.

"Yeah... long time," Kaori said while gritting her teeth. "This the way you greet everybody?" she said, her temper starting to slowly boil over as she started getting up upon somewhat regaining her senses from the slam.

"I'm sorry, it was all my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going," said another voice suddenly out of nowhere... another familiar voice... another all _too_ familiar voice for Kaori's taste. It was enough for her to forget all about being angry at the jock in her eyesight, and to cause the whole world to suddenly stop to a complete standstill around her.

_No... no, no, no... it... it couldn't be. No. The gods would not be that cruel... they just wouldn't," _she thought with dread as she slowly and cautiously opened her eyes fully while turning her head to face the owner of that other voice...

That soft-spoken, deep voice.

That heavenly voice.

That tempting voice.

That _tormenting_ voice.

…

Sakaki-san.

– O –

_At 5.03 pm, a leaf flutters down in a park and lands on the lap of a little girl who squeaks happily._

_

* * *

Well, that's the first chapter. I'm not really sure if this'll be a particularly good story, but we'll see. Still, I'm hopeful of getting a few twists out of the norm into the basic idea here..._


	2. The Uncomfortable Drive

_Second chapter. What to say. I don't know if I'm 100 percent happy with it, but I guess it's okay. Any criticisms are totally welcomed._

_

* * *

At 5.04 pm, a slight tremor in the ground causes the porselain figures of Ishii Mari to rattle slightly in their cupboard._

– O –

There were many things in the life of Aida Kaori that at times caused her neuroticism to jump up a scale or two, things that usually were of fairly small consequence. But none of them could ever quite compare to the sudden attacks on her nervous system she experienced when coming face to face with Sakaki, a girl she had encountered in high school and whose very existence had thrown her entire world into disarray... every single damn time.

During that time Kaori had often wished Sakaki would notice her the same way that she noticed her, but regardless of her dreams and desires, that never happened. She admitted that a large portion of that was wholly her own fault as when ever she attempted to make herself more noticeable to Sakaki, her nervous system usually failed her completely, resulting in either her making a complete fool out of herself or then just left her sulking in silence at the last moment. Kaori didn't quite know what made her behave that way near Sakaki, but it did eat at her self-esteem quite a bit and more often than not, she would end her days by crying herself to sleep.

But as time went on, and Kaori moved on with her life, so did Sakaki disappear from it entirely. After three years of being intently preoccupied with Sakaki-ism, suddenly her entire obsessive object was gone as if she had never been there to begin with. However, it still didn't mean Kaori was completely free of her. Her dreams and memories were still often punctured by different fantasies and far-fetched ideas of her much-adored idol, something that refused to leave her alone.

But Kaori was no idiot. She was perfectly aware that what ever emotions Sakaki aroused in her, all those were most likely never to be fulfilled, and the odds that Sakaki might actually have similar reactions to her were about as realistic as it was imagining Kaori's good friend Chihiro becoming a stripper. She was also aware that, given time, these feelings she was experiencing – these attacks of unreasonable and fantastical ecstasy, if you will – were likely to do more harm than leaving her fragile mind completely intact.

Thus, armed with the resolve to forget Sakaki entirely past graduating from high school, Kaori had done everything she possibly could to keep the images from intruding on her mind. She immersed herself in her astronomy studies, often going past what was required of her, and doggedly making fast progress on the pursuit of her future career. She took upon meditating every morning and evening. She tried different herbal teas and other such drinks that could bring a stability in her psyche. She even tried hypnosis for a while, but that just ended up giving her a major headache.

The results didn't show immediately, but over the course of the years the image of Sakaki slowly started to fade away to the extent that she remained as nothing else but a vague memory of something that remained as nothing more but a shadow in the deep recesses of her brain; a phantom memory that had neither shape nor substance.

That is, this was the way it was until Sakaki literally rammed into her life.

"S-S-Sa-Sakaki... s-s-an..."

The nervous attack was sudden and violently painful.

Kaori reeled back, her eyes starting wildly in horror, and the only thing that her body seemed to be commanding her to do was to get away from Sakaki as fast as she could possibly go. But her awkward shuffling back on the ground was stopped as her back hit a parked car next to the sidewalk.

Kagura and Sakaki were somewhat taken aback by the sudden, unexpected action, but they didn't have much time to wonder before Kaori tremblingly spoke again... more to herself than to either of the two girls.

"S-S-Sakaki-san... no... no no no no no no, this can't be true. It just can't. This is a dream... that's it. A fantasy. You're not really there. You're not real..." she stammered incomprehensively, her head swimming in disorientation.

Sakaki looked genuinely puzzled. She did not quite understand what Kaori was saying as these existential questions had never really made sense to her very realist mind. "But... I am real. I breath and I feel... doesn't that mean I exist? I mean... that is I'm... I'm afraid I don't quite understand," she said while glancing at Kagura.

"...Why are you looking at me?" Kagura asked.

Sakaki didn't bother to answer and turned her attention back towards the shaking girl before her. "Kaorin... are you all right? Did you hit your head? Maybe you have a concussion. Do you think we should take you to a hospital?" Sakaki asked with worry in her voice.

"Hospital? Concussion? I... I... You're... you're really there... aren't you?" Kaori asked, her little episode starting to fade away.

Sakaki just looked puzzled again and looked over her own body. "Don't I seem real? Am I somehow unrealistic or does this involve some complex existential quandry I don't understand," she once more thought out loud while looking at Kagura.

"Will you stop looking at me as if I know what the hell you two are talking about!" Kagura exclaimed.

"You are real..." Kaori groaned, while she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the car.

Sakaki was getting somewhat anxious about Kaori now, as the smaller girl was exhibiting some quite peculiar characteristics. Certainly Sakaki still remembered that there were times when Kaori had acted rather... strangely, but this was a bit more than what even she remembered and she was fearful that maybe she was the cause for that behaviour.

Crawling closer to Kaori, Sakaki asked, "Are you sure you are all right?"

Kaori opened her eyes and almost freaked out again as she noticed Sakaki was suddenly only a few centimeters away from her face. Blushing furiously, she quickly tried taking control of herself and salvaging whatever she had left of her dignity by joking her way past the question, "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just bumped my head and started seeing Kraftwerk robots... ehehehe..." and thus failed miserably in her task.

Sakaki gave a wondering look and peered hard into Kaori's face that was turning redder and redder by the second under that intense scrutiny. Sakaki was still not entirely convinced about Kaori's health, but her concentration was broken when Kagura suddenly spoke up with re-newed bravado, trying to relieve the obvious tension she had been observing. "Oi, Kaorin. Isn't it weird to bump into each other like this after all this time? Guess there's truth in 'it's a small world', eh? So, ummm... what were you doing here anyway?"

Kaori was quick to grab a hold of any straw she could that would just get Sakaki off her case. "Oh, I was just picking up a delivery from the post office and I was just going to go home, which I probably should be doing right now anyway, and... and... umm... where is my package?" Kaori asked when now remembering her missing delivery.

"Isn't that it?" Kagura asked while pointing to the cardboard box laying on the street a little way off.

"My lenses!" Kaori exclaimed and quickly scrambled to the box, promptly forgetting all about Sakaki for the time being. Picking it up, she hurriedly started opening it as she was mumbling to herself "Hopefully they are all intact."

Once she got the box open, she started carefully lifting and inspecting one sizeable glass lens at a time that none of the ten lenses in the heavily padded box were cracked or otherwise damaged.

"What are those?" Kagura asked.

"Telescope lenses... very expensive, hand-crafted speciality lenses," Kaori said absentmindedly. "And if any are damaged... I will make you pay, Kagura."

"M-Me? Why me? Sakaki hit you, too" Kagura said nervously.

"Because I bet the whole sprint thing was your idea. Right?" Kaori asked while giving Kagura a cold look.

"Ehehe... Well... umm..." Kagura sweated, somewhat fearful of the look in Kaori's eyes.

After a while of carefully inspecting each of the lenses, during which time Kagura's dread just seemed to increase, Kaori gave a deep sigh of relief that there was no apparent damage done, and closed the box again. "Kagura... you are very lucky," she said quietly.

"Well... I guess so then... I mean... YEAH!" Kagura enthused, showing a thumbs up.

Kaori picked up the box and, ignoring Kagura, stepped towards her car that was beside the street, popped open the front door and snapped the lock of the rear door open.

"Hey, is that your car, Kaorin?" Kagura asked, her natural curiosity towards machinery getting piqued.

Kaori glanced back at Kagura and responded, "No. I'm just an exceptionally good car thief," her voice seeping sarcasm.

Kagura chose to ignore the remark, and continued, "That's a pretty unusual car to have in Japan, isn't it?"

"Well, it's a British import I got from some collector guy a couple of years ago. Was a good deal, so I got it," Kaori explained while stuffing the box on the backseat.

Kagura looked on appreciatively at the copper-brown Ford Cortina GXL while Sakaki was entirely passive to the whole subject, never being particularly interested in these sort of things. "Looks a lot cooler than your normal cars you can see around here. I mean, I just got this lame Suzuki that doesn't even start half the time," Kagura said.

"Mmm, that's too bad. But, yeah. This is a good car. Gets me to my destination at least. And is a lot less trouble than my previous car," Kaori said still well remembering Tomo's torrid love affair with her previous car.

"Trouble?" Kagura questioned.

"It's a long story..." Kaori was content at answering.

"Say, Kaorin... which way you heading?" Kagura asked, and continued after Kaori gave her a questioning look, "I mean, Sakaki and I were just on our way home here, and I just thought if you could give us a lift or something. I mean if it's not too much trouble..."

"...You just want a ride in the car, don't you?" Kaori asked, and when Kagura just gave a goofy grin, Kaori gave a sigh and said, "Fine. Just don't fall in love with it, okay."

"Eh... What?" Kagura asked baffled.

"Never mind..." Kaori said with a shake of her head.

– O –

The ensuing journey however was not exactly what one could term as comfortable. Kaori was sitting behind the steering wheel as if she had a plank of wood tied to her back. She was all too painfully aware that Sakaki was sitting right behind her and that alone was enough to cause her to try her hardest in keeping vigilant of the road in front of her lest they all ended up getting in an accident.

Kagura didn't know what to say. She had never really connected with Kaori and she really didn't know how to talk to her. She did ask a few questions about the car for the lack of anything better to say, or mentioned about some sporting thing, but seeing as Kaori was not really in a communicative mood anyway, she largely spent the time trying to enjoy the ride itself.

Sakaki in the backseat said nothing and just stared ahead as if she was not even on the same planet as the other two.

Thus, when they reached Kagura's residence, it was a bit of a relief to the sporting girl to get back to the safety and comfort of her home and away from Kaori.

"So... was nice meeting you again and all that stuff, Kaorin," she said, while inwardly adding, _"Hopefully not again too soon, though."_

Kaori said something equating to a quiet confirmation or something similar, and after Kagura greeted Sakaki a good evening as well, the two other girls then resumed their journey towards Sakaki's abode, leaving Kagura staring behind the disappearing car with a big sigh of relief. _"Jeez! Kaorin's certainly a total kook... glad I don't know her."_

Back in the Cortina, things didn't change much, apart from Sakaki now sitting beside Kaori on the passenger seat. Kaori was still nervous as hell to be near her old idol again, but she tried to block the fears and nervous anxieties away as much as was humanly possible.

Sakaki, though, was completely blasé about Kaori's apparent exertions to remain calm and under control. Sakaki was rather more expectant to get back at her house to her beloved stuffed toys, mint tea and, of course, Maya, the thought of her pet wildcat causing a slight tint of red to rise to her cheeks.

A couple of times Kaori _did _thought that maybe she should try to say something to not sound hostile or anything, but every time she tried saying anything, the words jumbled in her head so as she could not form words out of them, leaving the trip to unfold in the same tense silence that had reigned from the start.

When they finally reached Sakaki's house, Kaori couldn't have been more relieved. She had been feeling as if she was sitting on hot pokers while somebody was poking her with a few more. But now she could get rid of Sakaki, and hopefully continue her life as if nothing had happened... that none of her hard work had gone to waste in her attempts to rid her life from the memory of Sakaki... or so she wished with all her heart.

"Well, I guess that's it then," Kaori said. "It was nice seeing you again, Sakaki-san," though in reality she was happier to get rid of her.

"Mmm... yes it was," was Sakaki's understated answer. "I guess I'll just say good night to you then," Sakaki said before hesitating a moment. "Umm... Kaorin? Would you... like to come up for a cup of tea at my home? You know... as a thank you."

Kaori was taken a little aback for a second. This she certainly didn't expect Sakaki to ask, but it was already certain in her head what she was going to say. _"Heh, yeah, right. As if I'm going to come into your house. I'm not that stupid... no offence._

"Sure, I'd love to come.

…

…

"_WHAT!?"_

Sakaki just smiled and said, "Mmm... I'm glad," and then exited the car. In all truth, Sakaki was quite pleased that Kaori had accepted the invitation, something she had been formulating for a good while in her head now, as it offered her the opportunity to somehow thank her for going so much out of her way to give Sakaki and Kagura a ride like that, and perhaps even to offer her some form of an apology for nearly causing her an injury earlier during the day. _"It's the least I can do," _she thought.

Kaori on her side, though, was flabbergasted. She just agreed to come inside _Sakaki-san's _house! Was she suicidal, or what? But neither could she take back her words now and decline since she still didn't want to appear rude, no matter how ill-adviced she knew her actions were at this precise moment. Thus she reluctantly trudged after Sakaki... and straight into the lion's den.

– O –

_At 6.36 pm, a little boy blows his bubblegum bubble too big and it blows up in his face._

_

* * *

This chapter turned longer than I thought. And, yeah! I also made a reference to another story of mine... which you'll probably not get if you haven't read it. And the Ford Cortina? I took it from Life on Mars. Yep, I just like to do stuff like that, even if I've already used a similar setup involving a car before. I promise, I will try not to do that again._

_And if I've made any mistakes during my hasty writing process, do tell. I'd like to correct them._


	3. At Sakaki's

_I'm back. And I am so going to give Kaori a hard time in this chapter. Enjoy._

_

* * *

At 6:37 pm, the five-year-old daughter of Tenaro Shinji makes such a good point that her father falls silent out of amazement._

– O –

There is an old saying: "He who fears not to tread there where he should not tread in the first place, can only blame himself for any grievance that meets him on the road."

...Or well, it's not that much an old saying, seeing as I just came up with it, but the truthfulness in that statement holds water regardless. And in all essence, that was exactly the kind of thoughts that were making turns in Kaori's head as she slowly and fearfully approached Sakaki's house. She knew this was a big mistake, and she knew the best course of action would have been to just turn around, run back to her car, and drive off as fast as possible. After all, the likelihood of Kaori ever coming into contact with Sakaki again were not exactly astronomical, so she could essentially afford making a fool of herself. Which was not exactly totally new to her, particularly in front of Sakaki.

Unfortunately, for her, there were two very strong reasons to not pursue that course of action. 1) Kaori didn't _want _to make a fool out of herself, and 2) she could not find it in herself to cause Sakaki disappointment by declining her hospitality at this late a stage. And, despite her brain telling her otherwise, she justified this mode of action by thinking that _"it'll just be one cup of tea. After that I can be on my way again, and then Sakaki'll be out of my hair. No big deal at all. I mean, what could possibly happen?"_

With that resolve, she stepped over the threshold after Sakaki, removed her shoes and took a glance around Sakaki's house. Whereas Kaori lived in a decent sized apartment, Sakaki resided in a nice, two-storey house, and by all accounts, lived there in generous comfort. It was perhaps a bit too spacious for Sakaki to inhabit apparently all alone, but regardless of this it was certainly so cozy that it didn't feel like too much at all.

"Please, do come in," Sakaki beckoned as she walked through the foyer to the living room and towards the kitchen area that was adjacent to the aforementioned room. Kaori meekly and hesitatingly followed along, trying to stay as vigilant as possible so that she would not falter should push come to shove... which actually once _did_ happen to her when Masado Daisuke, nicknamed "Push", shoved her into a hedge during junior high.

"Just wait here for a moment, and I'll get the tea started," Sakaki called behind her, forthwith disappearing into the kitchen. Kaori obliged, and wandered to the living room. Taking a look around for a few minutes, she had to appreciate how logically everything was arranged, yet at the same time nothing seemed cold or clinical, but just the right mixture of warmth mixed with order.

"_Nice place... lots of space. Sure has a lot warmer atmosphere than I expected..." _Kaori thought as she scanned the light-coloured, soft-looking couches, the little animal painting hanging on the wall, the tasteful mood-lighting reflecting on the cream-coloured walls, and the amiable atmosphere that heaved from the soft touch of little knick knacks here and there. _"Indeed, very nice. Sakaki's certainly got her life pretty well in order. I wonder who her decorator is..."_

Kaori stepped closer to a little set of shelves at one corner of the room and took a closer look at a selection of little hand-crafted figurines that had caught her eye as something odd. _"Oh wow... these are so cuuuuute. I wonder why Sakaki-san's got these, though. It doesn't really seem like her style... Could she be a collector?" _Kaori thought.

While preoccupied in inspecting the figures, she to her surprise suddenly felt a light push against her leg, the suddenness of the feel combined with her highly strung nerves causing Kaori to give a shriek and almost making her tumble into the shelves.

Sakaki heard Kaori and quickly rushed to see what her distress was. Unfortunately, as she rounded the corner, she was unaware that Kaori was standing just beside the doorway, the end result being that Sakaki splattered a trayfull of the little cream pastry sidedishes she had been preparing at the same time straight on Kaori's clothing.

"Whoops!" was all Sakaki knew to say while Kaori stood there stock still, looking down at her smeared shirt.

"I'm so, so sorry, Kaorin," Sakaki began, "I just heard you scream and thought you were in distress. I came to see what was wrong, but I suppose I should have put the pastries down first."

"Oh... it's... it's perfectly all right. T-there's no harm done," Kaori tried to dispel Sakaki's worries.

"Let me clean that up for you," Sakaki quickly said while snatching a piece of cloth and instantly started to swipe at the stains on Kaori's clothes.

This was probably the farthest thing what Kaori wanted as she went rigid when Sakaki's hands suddenly started moving all over her body like that. It took all of her mental strength to keep herself from screaming.

"I'm really terribly sorry, Kaorin. I shouldn't have been so clumsy. It's just that I really thought you were in trouble..." Sakaki began again with her apologies.

"No... no no no no... R-r-really, S-S-Sakaki-s-s-an... I'm o-okay... r-really. P-please, I-I-I can do t-that myself..." Kaori stuttered something as best she could while grabbing the piece of cloth from Sakaki's hands as a quick ditch attempt to keep Sakaki from roaming all over her chest.

Sakaki graciously let Kaori take the cloth and blushed as she was rather embarrassed for her own clumsiness, particularly as something like that just had to happen to somebody she had not seen in years. "I'm still sorry," she said as she bent over to pick up the now ruined pastries.

"No... Really, I'm fine, Sakaki-san. There's no harm done. I was going to wash this shirt anyway," Kaori said with much more conviction in her voice now that she had managed to settle down a bit and Sakaki was no longer in the "immediate danger zone".

Sakaki smiled and gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. It was definitely a relief for her to know that Kaori wasn't holding a grudge on her. However, she still didn't know what had caused her to scream in the first place and, seeing as she was perfectly fine, there had to have been a reason. "Umm... Kaorin? What was it that caused you to shout out as if in terror?" she asked.

Kaori stopped for a moment to wonder what that was. She had almost totally forgot that when she had got a lapful of cakes on her chest and Sakaki had gotten physical with her, but now her memory started to get back on again. "Oh... I... ummm. Well, I was just looking around your living room and I was looking at those figures when... I don't know... it was as if I felt something push against my leg. It just freaked me out, that's all. Though I'm not really sure what that was... Maybe it was just a phantom limb thing," Kaori said as she looked around.

"A push...?" Sakaki asked, something in her mind already starting to ring a bell. "Did this something possibly feel a bit soft and fuzzy?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it did."

Sakaki put down the tray with the smashed pastries and started looking around the room. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. She sighed deeply and said, "Maya."

Lifting up a little brown cat from behind a chair, Sakaki shook her head and presented him to Kaori. "Could this have been what you felt?"

Kaori took a good look at the cat in Sakaki's arms and acknowledged, "A cat? Yeah... I guess that might have been it..."

As Kaori continued looking at the cat, her conviction grew and, as a former cat owner herself, the explanation was starting to feel the most obvious. But on closer inspection, there was something a bit off about this particular cat that made it not seem all that... domesticated. Particularly the fur with its stripes and dots reminded Kaori of something specific, but she couldn't exactly place why this configuration looked so familiar.

"Kaorin, I'd like you to meet Yamamayaa... or Maya for short. I've had him for eleven years now," Sakaki explained.

"Yamamayaa? Isn't that like... an Iriomote wildcat?" Kaori asked rather puzzled, the familiarity of the cat's appearance suddenly clicking in her head.

"Yes. His mother was killed in an accident a long time ago and he was left to fend for himself. Then he came to find me and saved me from a... rather unpleasant situation. I've been taking care of him ever since," Sakaki said happily, while fondly looking at Maya in her arms.

"Right..." Kaori said non-plussed. _"Why am I so surprised? Of course Sakaki-san would not have a regular cat..."_

"I though those animals were endangered," she said out loud.

"Mmm... Yes they are. But he was the one who found me. And I just couldn't give him away, so I ended up taking care of him," Sakaki explained.

"Oh... okay," Kaori said.

Suddenly Sakaki seemed to snap out from wherever she had lost herself, "Oh, yes! The tea! Here, you take him Kaorin," she said as she handed Maya over to Kaori and hurried back into the kitchen.

Kaori was just left staring after her with Maya in her arms. Looking down at the wildcat, Kaori sarcastically stated, "Well, aren't you lucky now? Caught in the arms of Auntie Kaori... Yeah, yeah, I know how that sounded like. Stop looking at me like that."

It wasn't long before Sakaki again came out from the kitchen, now with a couple of sandwiches. "Well, since the pastries are gone, I thought I'd make a couple of these instead."

"Oh, thanks. You really didn't need to," Kaori said as she placed Maya on the floor.

"Just trying to be a good host, despite everything," Sakaki said with a small smile, causing Kaori to involuntarily blush again.

"_Damn! Will you just take a hold of yourself, Kaori!" _she admonished herself in her head.

"Say, would you like to see the rest of the house while we're waiting for the tea?" Sakaki sprung out.

"_Well, things can't get any worse, so... _Sure, why not," Kaori said.

– O –

As Kaori expected and had already observed, Sakaki's house was truly a comfortable place through and through. She had perhaps expected the place to be a bit more edgy than what she found, but it certainly didn't disappoint. In fact it was actually a lot more interesting to see how the tiled bathroom seemed to blend with the little images of flowers and little animals on the wall, or how the oak cupboards in the kitchen were elegantly manufactured without seeming cumbersome, or how the small garden outside was blooming and seemingly more spacious than the yard actually was, or how all the rooms had soft, plushy carpets so that your feet were never cold. In short, the house was nothing like Sakaki's cold exterior would have made one to expect from her.

And then there was of course the master bedroom on the second floor. The fact that the room was pink and stuffed with plushies and other such fluffy toys was a bit of a shock to Kaori in the beginning, but at the same time she had to acknowledge how the room didn't feel garish or childish at all... unlike perhaps her own room had been when she was younger.

"This is my favourite room and I like spending a lot of time here after work," Sakaki blissfully said with a slight tint on her face.

"Yeah, it's certainly very nice," Kaori said appreciatively as she took a step forward into the room. Unfortunately she failed to notice a little ripple on the thick carpet on the floor, this oversight causing Kaori's foot to get stuck and she promptly tripped on the carpet and straight into... Sakaki.

Sakaki quickly caught her before she hit the ground, but in order for both to still stay upright she had to shift her weight to accommodate the force of Kaori's impact by grabbing hold of her with more strength than usual. The end result was that Sakaki ended up squeezing Kaori's body against her own as in a deep embrace.

Kaori's whole body it seemed flared into a deep crimson as she realised her position. _"Oh, heffalumps and woozles! _Sakaki-san, I'm so sorry!!" Kaori screamed in terror while her face was still buried in Sakaki's chest.

"It's... it's quite all right," Sakaki said in an attempt to ease her old friend's mind, while her own face also showed a small blush sticking on it.

Kaori quickly scrambled off of Sakaki to save herself from any more embarrassment or awkwardness or the sense of her brain blowing up. "Really, I am really, truly sorry! I should have looked where I was stepping, and... and... I just..." Kaori stammered out, but had to stop as she felt a case of hyperventilation overcoming her.

Sakaki looked on with a little concern. She certainly hoped Kaori was okay, and that nothing was the matter. "Kaorin? Are you all right?" she asked as she stepped closer to her, preparing to lay a hand on her shoulder.

But before she could do that Kaori jumped back and quickly said, "No, no, no, no! I'm just fine. Really, I am! Never better. Hehehehe..." she nervously flailed about trying to convince Sakaki. "Ummm... you know, I... I think the tea might be ready, so... should we go take a look?" she said, trying to muster up a smile, but ended up looking more like she was about to burst into tears.

Sakaki wasn't entirely assured Kaori really was fine, but decided to trust Kaori's assurances and let it be. Once the two reached downstairs, Sakaki beckoned Kaori to take a seat and went off to get the tea.

Kaori collapsed on the comfortable sofa and quietly cursed in her mind the utter nightmare this day had turned into. _"What could possibly go wrong? Yeah, nice thinking, Kaori. You should have seen this disaster coming the moment you said, 'yes, I'd love to come inside Sakaki-san'. Urgh... why does my life always have to be this difficult? As if I don't have something major on my mind already..."_

It didn't take long for Sakaki to appear again with a tray of two cups and a pot of mint tea. "Here. I hope you like it. It is my favourite drink and it has great relaxing qualities."

"Thank you," Kaori said as she took a sip from the cup. "Mmm, this is good."

"Ah. I'm glad to hear that," Sakaki happily said, while taking a sip from her own cup as well.

After a short silence of the two just enjoying the tea, Sakaki then continued in an effort to make conversation, "So, Kaorin? What have you been up to since high school?"

"Oh, nothing really that much. I pursued my astronomy studies in Todai and entered the Undergraduate Course where I went through the Master Course and the following Doctor Course. I got my doctorate thesis done quite fast actually... in around six years, which apparently is some kind of a record. According to the professors I was one of the most gifted students they'd come across with in quite some time... don't know how true that is, but there you go. I guess I made some kind of an impression, though, because I got a special letter of recommendation from one of my professors to get me to my postdoc position faster than usual. So after that I've been working in the TAO as an assistant researcher, perfecting my basic skills... It's basically a lot of team research, but I have my own little side projects too, which is pretty exciting. So that's pretty much what I've been doing for the past couple of years or so now. You know, comparisons of star charts, analysis of different space anomalies, basic filing, and other studies of astrophysics... stuff like that," Kaori stated professionally, if not a bit abashed to be sharing this sort of stuff with Sakaki of all people.

"Sounds very interesting. That sounds like a very responsible and challenging occupation. You must be very smart to have accomplished that much already," Sakaki sincerely said.

Kaori flared up for who knows how manyeth a time that day after hearing Sakaki actually complementing her, "Ehehe... well yeah, it is quite challenging... but I also very much enjoy it. It's something I've wanted to do ever since I was five. I suppose you might say it's my calling and I couldn't think of another profession I could do."

"Mmm... I'm glad you've been able to follow your dreams. One should aways do what they feel they are the best and most comfortable at."

"Yeah, I agree. So... what about you, Sakaki-san?"

"Oh. Well, I studied to become a veterinarian."

"Really? That's interesting. I wasn't quite expecting that," Kaori said slightly surprised.

"Well, yeah... ummm... I've just always wanted to help animals and it just seemed the best course for me," Sakaki explained somewhat timidly.

"That sounds like a great resolve."

"Well, it was... but... well..." Sakaki stopped, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed.

"Sakaki-san? What is it?" Kaori asked with worry when Sakaki suddenly seemed to get troubled.

"Well... ummm... this may sound a bit... silly..."

"What does?"

"Well..." Sakaki stopped again, feeling a bit unsure if she should say anything about this to somebody she still didn't quite know all that well, regardless of them knowing each other from years back.

"Hey, it's okay. You can tell me anything. I promise I won't make fun of you, or stuff like that," Kaori encouraged.

Sakaki took a big contented sigh and gave a little smile, "Okay. Well, even as I wanted to help animals and this was what I really wanted to do... ummm... it was just... it was just so hard. You know, to see them in pain... and at times... d-d-dying... and not always being able to help at all. So I... I had to quit," Sakaki said almost pathetically, which caused Kaori to look on in wonder at the "cool" girl whom she had always taken as being really tough and always in perfect control of herself.

"It was a really tough decision... but I had to do it. I just couldn't take it anymore," Sakaki continued after a small pause, her voice tearing up.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that," Kaori said genuinely sincere. This she had certainly not expected and it made her heart warm up all over again in seeing how the goddess was not only cool, but also had a genuinely caring and warm heart. _"Ugh... no! I must not start down that road again. I'll just end up more hurt than I was. Just get it together. Get it together. Get it together..."_

"It's okay. It hurt for a while, but I got over it. So, since I knew I couldn't be a veterinarian anymore, I did the other thing I could, and started my own pet store. That makes me happy. That way I can still take care of animals and help giving them a nice, new home where they can be happy too," Sakaki said with more content in her voice.

"Oh, that's good to hear," Kaori responded with a smile.

It was then that they suddenly heard rustling from behind them, and turning around noticed that Maya had jumped on the table behind the sofa and was now digging through a vase of flowers set up on the table.

"Maya! No! Bad kitty," Sakaki shouted and reached out to the wildcat. Unfortunately her position was not a favourable one and she failed to get enough leverage to lift Maya in her arms, while at the same time not toppling down the vase. "Maya!" she admonished while leaning in an awkward angle on the back of the sofa.

But if Sakaki was having difficulty, Kaori was not doing so hot either. You see as Sakaki turned to reach over the sofa for Maya, Kaori to her great distress ended up getting pinned down by the struggling body of Sakaki without any possibility of getting away from under there.

"_Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God..." _she panicked as Sakaki's breasts were suddenly being squeezed hard up against her face and, this combined with the rubbing motion they made, was nearly driving Kaori out of her mind. It was a most horrible position to be in, and when you combined the memories of all of the things that happened to her that day from Sakaki toppling her down on the street, the uncomfortable drive, Sakaki rubbing her chest from splattered cream treats, her tripping all over Sakaki and now this... it was really causing Kaori's frail mind to almost shut down.

"_Oh no! What am I going to do... I can't stand this for long! I'll crack... again! Maybe if I closed my eyes," _she thought, but unfortunately, even as Sakaki's breasts were now out of her sight, she could not shut her sense of feel and smell. _"This is not helping at all..."_

"Mayaaaa!!" Sakaki wailed.

Kaori had had it. She couldn't take this torture anymore. What had started as a simple little invitation for tea had turned into the very worst fear Kaori could have had. She had to get away. Now!

"Ummm... S-S-Sakaki-san... ummm..." she whimpered.

Sakaki glanced down towards her after hearing Kaori say something and her face immediately exploded into a bright scarlet complexion upon seeing the position Kaori was in. "Uh! I'm sorry!" she quickly said as she just grabbed Maya in her arms and flung herself back on the sofa and off the body of Kaori with little regard for anything else around her. "Kaorin? Are you all right? I'm really terribly sorry. I didn't notice you at all," she said with worry as Kaori was just shaking in her seat.

Without a moment's notice, Kaori jumped up and stammered a reply, "Oh... no no no, it's okay! Really. B-but, it... it's getting late so I really should get going... And... And... I s-shouldn't be bothering you any more... and thanks for the tea and everything and all that and... and... and... bye!" she quickly finished and ran off as fast as she could out the door, her head swimming with disorientation and feverish thoughts. A short while later the screeching of tires could be heard as Kaori sped away from Sakaki's house.

Sakaki was just left speechless on the sofa, staring at the closed door Kaori just fled through and with Maya happily cradled in her arms. "You think I upset her somehow?" she quietly asked her cat.

– O –

In the Cortina, Kaori's head was heating up and it took all of her concentration to stay on the road.

"No no no no no! How did this happen? Why do these things always have to happen to me? What have I done so wrong to deserve this kind of torture?" she lamented.

It was only after her fever started to settle when she noticed: "Where's my shoes?"

– O –

_At 7:45 pm, in a darkened alley, a man confesses his love to another__ male__ gang member, and is then stabbed to death__ by his crush__._

_A minute later, in another alley seven blocks away, a dog takes a leak on a homeless man._

_

* * *

Well, here's the rambling third chapter, which again ended up being gigantic in size. I sincerely hope it didn't turn out too disjointed. I think this turned out okay. _


	4. At Kaori's

_Chapter Four. Seems that unplanned, flow-of-consciousness type stuff seems to inspire long chapters. Interesting._

_

* * *

On Friday, May 30th, 2014, at 9.34 am, high schooler Sawamura Chihiro wakes up and realises she's over-slept._

_At the same time in school, her boyfriend Hikari Mine realises that his school day lacks any point when she's not there._

– ­­O –

The ensuing night was one of intense disciplining for Kaori. Her encounter with Sakaki had left her feeling like a nervous ball of synaptic knots and unresolved connectors that was being used as a toy by a cat, or in this instance a wildcat, not the least brought about by the sudden form of intimacy displayed by Sakaki towards the end of her visit. And even as Kaori always welcomed a little "breast massage" every now and again, this was one instance that she hoped would have never taken place.

After reaching home that night, she was still somewhat shaken up by the various incidents she had endured at Sakaki's house, though she was starting to get more in control of herself. It would probably be an understatement to say that she was quite relieved when her front door came into her sights, for in truth she had probably never been as happy to see her own home that she was at that particular moment. Almost immediately Kaori launched herself into a severe conditioning programme for the rest of the night that she had developed over the years to combat her yearning for some Sakaki-closeness.

Going through her entire repertoire, she drank around six litres of special herbal tea, the recipe to which had been passed on for generations in the Aida family for just such nervous conditions; she listened to the soothing, happy sounds of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony around eight times as she meditated in utter concentration to purge any outside thoughts from her head; she went through a bunch of dirty magazines that she had lying around (even a couple of male porn ones); she cycled 25 kilometers on her exercise bike; she thought every non-Sakaki related happy thought she could think of; she worked some more on the scale model of the solar system she had been working on over the past couple of weeks; and she even played around with her fantasy of taking over the world one day with organising troops in many complex little tactical manoeuvres in her head, the exercise, of course, ending in her grand declaration of becoming the Empress of the World.

Whether any of these acts actually helped her at all is debatable, but if they did manage to do something, it was to make her extremely tired.

Thus she slept in utter exhaustion for whatever little was still left of that night, dead to everything else around her, and only occasionally stirred in her sleep by the image of a pair of large breasts rubbing against her face.

– ­­O –

It was already nearing ten in the morning when Kaori woke up to discover her body aching all around from sleeping in a very uncomfortable and rigid position. Obviously her night had not been the most relaxed one.

With a lot of effort, and her brain begrudging all the way through, Kaori managed to wrench herself out of bed. Wearily stomping to her kitchen in only her underwear, she prepared a pot of strong coffee and started making simple, but filling sandwiches for breakfast.

"_Agh, I really should pay more attention to how I sleep. I'm hurting everywhere. It's a wonder I haven't pulled a muscle somewhere," _Kaori grumbled while giving a big yawn as she placed a few slivers of cheese on her bread. _"Maybe I should just spend the rest of the day willingly in bed and not risk any big excursions anywhere beyond watching TV at best."_

But as if providence or some other alien force didn't like that particular plan, it was at that very moment when she had just taken a big chump out of her frankly not-really-that-healthy sandwich that somebody, to her great surprise, pressed her doorbell.

"_What the hell? Who could that be this early in the morning?" _she wondered as she gulped down the bread from her mouth. _"Well, whoever it is, he better have a good reason to disturb me this early in the morning," _she irritably thought as she reluctantly made her way towards her front door, never minding that she wasn't really wearing anything else apart from a top and panties.

Snapping the security lock open, she wrenched the door open, ready to blast whoever was behind it straight to hell. But…

"Good morning, Kaorin," Sakaki said with a smile.

Kaori slammed the door shut and leaned against it with a look of utter shock on her face. _"What the hell is Sakaki-san doing here!?" _she frantically thought, her sandwich threatening to take the opposite direction from her stomach.

However, regardless of her world suddenly experiencing one of the biggest shocks she had ever experienced, her common sense still functioned enough for her to realise that she couldn't just leave Sakaki standing on her doorstep like that after slamming the door in her face and making sure she knew Kaori was at home. Thus with trepidation she psyched herself up, turned to face the door again, and cautiously re-opened the door.

Indeed, even as Kaori was hoping that what she saw previously was simply a product of her over-active imagination, there Sakaki was still standing, looking somewhat puzzled about what had just happened, but also habitually not wanting to start questioning her old acquaintances eccentricities. After all, in her experience, Kaori often seemed to do things that were odd to say the least.

"S-S-Sakaki-san?" Kaori meekly asked, peeking from behind the door.

"I hope I didn't wake you up," Sakaki said, not wanting to come about as somehow inconsiderate, which she most certainly prided herself as not being.

"Oh, no no no, not at all. I-I just woke up in fact, so it's no problem," Kaori nervously answered.

"Ah, I'm glad. I was fearing I had made a mistake coming this early and caused you inconvenience just now," Sakaki said with relief.

"Oh, you mean the door?" Kaori quickly caught on to. "Oh, no, I was just… ummm… removing the safety chain… yeah, that's it," Kaori said as a quick explanation.

Sakaki looked a little confused, "But the safety chain wasn't on," she pointed out, causing Kaori to flush up in embarrassment.

"Ummm… hehe… oh yeah. I… I mean… I just _thought_ the safety chain was on, but… well… I guess it really wasn't… And, well, in fact looking at it now, I don't even _have_ a safety chain so it would have been pretty impossible for it to have been on anyway… ehehehe…" Kaori rambled on, feeling ever so much more stupid the further she went with her lame attempts at excuses. _"Oh, God, will you never just learn to shut up!" _she internally scolded herself.

Sakaki calmly waited for Kaori to finish her incoherent explanation before raising her hand holding a pair of shoes. "You forgot your shoes at my house last night," she stated while handing out the pair to Kaori.

If Kaori was embarrassed before, she was possibly even more embarrassed now. What kind of an idiot forgets to put shoes back on her feet when going outside? Kaori looked a bit disheartened at showing yet again what a fool she was in front of Sakaki, so she just took the shoes and quietly said, "Thank you," not wanting to make the situation any worse.

"Mmm… It's no problem," Sakaki was content at saying.

Of course Kaori couldn't just leave things up like that, her common courtesy still denying her to be rude and just sending Sakaki on her way after basically forcing her to come all the way to her home to deliver shoes she shouldn't have forgot in the first place, so there was only one thing she could say at that point: "Would you like to come in, Sakaki-san?"

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother," Sakaki protested.

"Oh, no. It's no bother at all. I mean, if anything, I've been more of a bother to you. Besides, since you're already here anyway, let me at least give you a cup of coffee or something. Please. I insist," Kaori encouraged.

Sakaki smiled and graciously accepted the invitation. "Okay. Thank you, Kaorin."

As Sakaki stepped inside Kaori's apartment, Kaori glanced at the shoes and while so doing suddenly became fully aware that she was nowhere near what you could term as decently dressed, a fact that had completely slipped out of her mind. Feeling another moment of panic coming up, she quickly said, "Oh, wait here, Sakaki-san! I'm going to go get some proper clothes. There's coffee in the pot over there and cups on the hooks on the wall there. Please help yourself. I'll be right back," she said as she disappeared to her bedroom, hoping very hard that Sakaki had not paid much attention to her current attire.

Sakaki fought back the blush that was threatening to explode on her face when being pointed at the fact that Kaori was wearing fairly little clothing, and instead decided to turn her attention to look around Kaori's living room in the same manner as Kaori had done yesterday at her house. The place was decently sized. Not too big, but certainly for a bachelorette like Kaori it was perfect. The apartment consisted of a sizeable living room with the kitchen situated right next to it with no wall to separate the two spaces, apart from a small bar counter. Just past this, to the right, there was a separate area for the bedroom as Sakaki assumed, which was slightly elevated from the other quarters, and peeking through the archway, there seemed to be one or two further rooms within the bowels of the apartment, everything being quite concisely and logically laid out. In essence, it was a very nice place that received an appreciative nod from Sakaki.

As Kaori had requested, Sakaki poured herself some coffee into a light blue cup with little pictures of kittens on it, and took a sip of it. _"Umh… certainly is strong…" _Sakaki grimaced and started looking for a pot of sugar or milk or something to douse out the edge from the drink.

It didn't take long for Kaori to re-appear from the other part of the apartment, now dressed in a simple blouse and a knee-length skirt, though still looking a bit flushed out over her previous appearance.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," she said as she entered the room.

"Oh, not at all. I was just looking for some sugar actully," Sakaki said.

"There's a cup of it in the cupboard just to your left," Kaori pointed.

"Ah, got it," Sakaki said as she grabbed the sugar cup from the cupboard.

Kaori also poured herself a cup, though she didn't even attempt to sweeten the drink up, and once both had their cups of coffee in front of them, and Sakaki in addition having a considerably healthier sandwich than Kaori had, the two sat down on the sofa.

"Sakaki-san…" Kaori started, "I'd just like to apologize for making you go through all this trouble on my behalf. It was really stupid of me to just leave my shoes like that…"

"Eh, don't worry about it. It's all right. I'm just glad to have been of help. And if anything, at least this gave me an opportunity to see your home this time around," Sakaki said while offering a genuinely happy smile.

"Yes, you know that's actually something that kind of left me a little curious. How did you know where I lived, Sakaki-san? I don't think I ever told you," Kaori asked a bit puzzled.

"Oh, I looked up your name from the phone book. There was only one Aida Kaori in there, so I supposed that was you. I probably should have called beforehand to make sure that actually was you, or see if I could come around, but I guess I just wanted to return the shoes so I didn't really think about it in detail," Sakaki explained somewhat apologetically as that was not exactly the way she usually conducted business like this.

"I see. Well, lucky you I still have my old landline," Kaori smiled back.

"Mmm, indeed," was all Sakaki responded, and after a short while continued with a bit more worry and uncertainty in her voice, "Ummm… Kaorin? Is everything… all right with us?"

"What do you mean, Sakaki-san?" Kaori freaked.

"It's nothing… I… I just thought… that maybe I did something… inappropriate last night. I mean, you seemed a little frazzled, and left in such a hurry that I was afraid I had done something that caused you to be upset," Sakaki said while fiddling her thumbs.

This bit of concern from Sakaki, however, seemed to dwarf with the concern Kaori now found herself entertaining. She was frankly horrified that Sakaki might have got upset due to her irrational, if necessary, behaviour last night. She knew that the best thing for her mental health, her emotional health, and her life in general was to stay away from Sakaki, but at the same time she knew she could never live with herself if she caused some kind of grief to come to Sakaki in any form. Call it a sense of loyalty to her old feelings regardless of how badly she tried to suppress them.

"No, no you didn't do anything. Really you didn't. I… I just remembered that I had to be somewhere else, and I guess I just realised it so fast that I didn't have any time to think what I was doing and that's why I needed to get away that quick and… then of course I forgot my shoes… So it really had nothing to do with anything you might've done, so please don't worry about that at all," Kaori gave another lame excuse that even disgusted herself.

"Oh… Well, in that case, I'm glad that I didn't offend you in any way. I wouldn't want to make other people feel bad by any means. You weren't late on my account from wherever you needed to be, were you?"

"_And she bought the story too," _Kaori internally wondered while saying aloud, "No. Wasn't late one bit."

"Mmm, that is good," Sakaki said while giving a nod and taking another sip of her coffee. "Nice home you have here, by the way. Seems like a great place to live in. It really… somehow fits you in a way."

"Eh, well, thanks. I like it anyway. This is a good home to live in. Not too expensive, but not uncomfortable by any means," Kaori beamed back.

"Indeed. You know, sometimes I think I should move into somewhere similar to this. My house is perhaps slightly too big just for me, even though I like it very much."

"Oh, I don't know. Your house seems just right to me. Really cosy and everything. That's quite the achievement for a house of that size."

"Well, I try…" Sakaki said rather embarrassedly.

"No, really, your home truly is great. I mean even if I wasn't expecting it to be quite like that."

"You didn't?"

"Well, you know, it was more soft and warm than what I thought it was going to be like. I've always took you as being a bit more… well, spartan type instead of the more… ummm… well… uh…" Kaori stumbled, trying to find the proper words.

"It's all right. You can say it. There's no need to try to tiptoe around the subject. I know how people see me as being like," Sakaki interrupted with sudden disappointment reflecting from her voice.

"Uh… See you as being like what?" Kaori curiously asked.

"As some kind of a… a tough girl. A loner. An untouchable and distant person. Yes, I've heard it all through my life. Everybody always thinks of me as this… super-cool person who is better left alone, and frankly I'm starting to get sick of it. I admit I have never really been all that good at expressing emotions, or being very open or vocal, so I've probably come across to most people as cold and indifferent… but it's getting more and more frustrating the older I get. It was something I always felt difficult to address when I was younger, but over time it's been getting easier and easier for me to admit to my true identity. However, that still doesn't prevent me from feeling so… so rejected when people can't see past my exterior. That they only bother to see the tough Sakaki. And I just really, really dislike feeling like that. So, I'm sorry if the image you have of me in your head doesn't fit what I truly am like… though I must admit I was expecting a whole lot more from you, Kaorin" Sakaki bitterly finished.

"What?! W-why ever would you think that I'd think of you like that?" Kaori asked in shock.

"Don't you? Don't you see me as the tough, cool girl? Wasn't that what you were implying at before? That you didn't expect me to be something else than just the loner?" Sakaki asked while giving Kaori a hard stare tinged with a hint of despondency.

That drove Kaori silent for a moment, as she to her own dejection well knew that was exactly like she had seen Sakaki in the past, or at least in the beginning before she still didn't know anything of her. It was somewhat disheartening to her that maybe she had inadvertedly caused pain to her idol, unintentional as that may have been, and any ill feelings Sakaki felt still hurt Kaori deep inside even past all these years and attempts at distancing herself from the goddess.

Sakaki took Kaori's silence as a sign that she had hit the mark. "See? You think of me as being like that too. Just like everybody else…" Sakaki said with disappointment, which was only enhanced since she had truly believed Kaori at least knew her somewhat better than just a simple acquaintance.

"I don't think that!" Kaori quickly interjected.

"Don't you?" Sakaki challenged.

"No! Or well… I mean… not exactly like that… but…"

Sakaki just sighed, "It's okay. You don't have to try and make up excuses to make me feel better. I'm used to getting those perceptions from others concerning me. It's no big deal."

Kaori gave Sakaki a sad look consisting of a mixture of her own shame and the knowledge of the pain Sakaki must have gone through. Even as she knew she was walking on thin ice, and her brain told her that this would probably be the best opportunity for her to effectively cut her ties with Sakaki, regardless that it meant for her to lie and hurt Sakaki, she still couldn't pull herself to be that heartless. No, not to Sakaki of all people, no matter what that entailed to her mental health.

"I'm sorry," she quietly began and earning a look from Sakaki, "I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings, Sakaki-san. Looks like that's almost what I seem to do best with people… but I swear I never meant any harm, or wanted to cause you any pain. I… I admit I don't know you that well to make judgement calls on you, and that I'm being very shallow, but I swear my intentions have never been to cause you ill will. Because truthfully… I don't care if you are some kind of a cool and tough girl or not. The only thing that matters to me is that you're Sakaki-san, and that you are happy with yourself. Once you have that, who cares what other people think? So, if I've been grossly out-of-line with you, I sincerely apologise."

"Really? You really think that, Kaorin?" Sakaki asked quizzickly.

"Heh, well… I suppose on some level I can sympathise with you. I've never really had that many friends… and I've always felt like an outsider wherever I've been. I think I only really have one person I can call a close friend, and even that is just because we've been friends since early childhood. But it's just that I've just never really felt like I fit anywhere all that well, and I know it's not a nice feeling to have. That's why I've fought very hard to get involved with astronomy as at least there I can feel like I can be of some use. I guess that's not really much, but at least it's something. So, again I'm sorry if I've been unfair towards you. I… I know something like that can hurt… no matter who they are," Kaori finished.

Now it was Sakaki's turn to feel bad as she realised how unfairly she had just been acting towards Kaori. Throughout her life, she had always felt like the outsider; the loner; the one who was always left out; afraid that if people found out what she really was like, they would mock her and cast her out even more; but at the same time she had never really taken into consideration that there might have been other people going through something similar to herself as well. And now, come to think of it, that was exactly how she had treated Kaori in the past. She had acknowledged her presence on occasion, and she remembered how she was one of the first people who had actually tried to _talk_ to her before Chiyo-chan and the others had come into the picture.

But for whatever reason, Kaori had never advanced further to become a closer friend to her and it wasn't long before Sakaki had pretty much dialled her outside of her life when she found herself surrounded by her new-found best friends. And with this sudden realisation, Sakaki felt for the first time an emotion she had never felt before, and which she did not like one bit: selfishness.

Here she was griping about how people have pre-conceived ideas about her, and how unfair that was towards her, yet at the same time she did the exact same thing to Kaori now. Making suppositions that she was just like everybody else in her thoughts, but never stopping to think that she was now judging her just the same without really even knowing anything about Kaori. And Sakaki didn't like that sensation one bit.

"I'm sorry, Kaorin," Sakaki said after a few minutes of silence and causing a quizzical look to come to Kaori's face.

"For what?"

"For making you feel guilty about something I was just as much guilty of."

"Oh? Ummm… I'm afraid I don't quite follow," Kaori sweatdropped.

"It doesn't matter. The important point is that I understand now, and I will never treat you like that again."

"O-kay…" Kaori stretched, still not quite understanding what just happened and how Sakaki suddenly seemed to have changed her mood as if with a flick of a switch. _"Treat me like that? Like what? And now she understands…? Huh?" _But regardless of feeling like some vital piece of information was left off from Sakaki's words and left hidden behind that mysterious smile, Kaori decided not to pursue it any further for fear of upsetting Sakaki again, a prospect she certainly didn't want to do again within such a short time. Besides, she could probably figure that out on her own later on if she felt like it.

"Um, would you like some more coffee of something?" Kaori decided to change the subject.

"Oh, no thank you, Kaorin. In fact, I probably should be going," Sakaki said as she got up and glanced at the clock on the wall that was now nearing 10:40. "I still need to go check up on the pet store and see that my assistant has everything under control. I was just stopping by here on my way there."

"Yeah, yeah sure! Of course. Sorry if I've been keeping you," Kaori said as she jumped up too.

"Mmm… Don't worry. I'm in no hurry. But it was nice coming by and seeing you again, even if I wouldn't have had any shoes to return," Sakaki smiled gently back, already feeling a bit richer for having learned something new about her maligned friend.

"Really?"

"Of course. Oh, and thanks for the coffee."

"Yeah, sure. No problem. Any time."

After this Sakaki started to take her leave, but while she was moving towards the front door, she suddenly came up with a masterstroke, "Say, Kaorin. I was just thinking… Me and the rest of the group are having a get together tomorrow for a little gathering. And I was just wondering… if you're not too busy or anything, that is… would you like to… join us?"

"What? Me?"

"Yes. You know, nothing big. Just a little recreation with no obligations. It would just be me, Kagura, Osaka, Tomo and Yomi. You know, the old group. So, if you'd like to join us, you'd be more than welcomed," Sakaki said while giving a hopeful smile.

It caused Kaori to stop for a moment to consider what was just being propositioned to her, and what the implications would be.

"_Wait, hang around… with Sakaki-san? Doesn't sound very wise. And you know what trouble you ended up in last time you said 'yes'. Oh, but then again, I wouldn't exactly be alone with her… Jeez! Am I seriously considering this?! Of course, I can't go!"_

"Okay, sounds great," Kaori said out loud before realising that she did it again. _"Wait… did I just contradict myself again? What the heck is the matter with me?"_

Sakaki on the other hand seemed very pleased at Kaori's decision to come along as she started to bid Kaori her farewells. "That's great. So, I guess I'll see you again tomorrow then. We're meeting up at the Square Park, so you can just come there at around one in the afternoon, okay?"

Kaori sighed and said "Okay," while internally adding _"Guess there's no way I can cancel now."_

"Well, see you then, Kaorin."

"Oh, umm… Sakaki-san…" Kaori interrupted before Sakaki had a chance to go, "I wonder if you could please just call me Kaori. That is if it's not too much trouble! It's just that I've never really liked being called 'Kaorin', that's all," Kaori meekly explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I never knew you didn't like being called that," Sakaki said a bit concerned.

"No no! It's… It's no big deal. I mean, it was actually originally Chihiro who started calling me that in the first place when we were really young, and then it just kind of caught on and before I even knew it, soon everybody else were calling me 'Kaorin' too… And, you know, it came to the point that I just never really bothered to say anything about it anymore and just let people call me that… but truthfully, I've just never really liked being called with that pet name. I mean, it's not really a big deal! It's just that every time people call me 'Kaorin', it makes me feel like I'm five years old again."

"Oh, I can perfectly understand why you'd feel that way. You don't have to explain to me," Sakaki smiled at her. "So, tomorrow at one?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you guys then," Kaori said with a small smile.

"Mmm… Well, so long then… Kaori."

With that Sakaki was gone and a slightly blushed Kaori closed the door behind her. Once the door was closed, she sighed deeply and leaned on the door. "What am I doing? This is exactly what I should be avoiding. I know that. Then why am I so willingly putting myself into these situations? After all, what possible good can come out of this? I'm such a nihilist…

"And what's worse… I think I may actually… _want_ this. Oh, God. Why does she make me feel like this? Why? Why…?" Kaori said as she allowed herself to slide down to sit on the floor as feelings of old began bubbling down again in the deepest recesses of her heart.

– ­­O –

_At 10.48 am, a professional clown meets a dose of ultimate irony when he stumbles into a stack of eggs while shopping in a supermarket, breaking several packs._

_

* * *

Yeah, I don't know whether the whole serious part in the middle came a bit too soon or not, but that's just the way the conversation seemed to go. Yeah, as if I have any control over this story. Sorry if this lacked in the ha ha department._

_By the way, what kind of an ending would you prefer: happy romantic ending; a perhaps not-so-happy not-that-romantic ending; or a gritty ending? I'd like it if I got some feedback on this as I have these three styled endings I could do, but I'm not sure which one I'd like to do (all have their pros and cons). This just so that it could help me give some direction to the story in my head, if nothing else._


	5. The Gathering

_Chapter five brings with it a reunion of old friends. I__'__ll admit that I__'__ve never really been good at writing ensemble pieces, which is why I usually just concentrate on a very small group of characters at most. Reason is that I often tend to forget other characters when I shouldn__'__t, or get sidelined from the actual main point of the story. I__'__ll try my best to address both issues in what follows._

_

* * *

On Saturday, May 31st, 2014, at 12.13 pm, a baker smells his freshly-baked bread, and gives a pleased smile at his accomplishment._

– O –

Sakaki was feeling happy. Indeed, she usually did feel quite happy, though she didn't often show it, but today she was even more elated than she usually was. So much so, in fact, that she even gave Maya some shrimp for breakfast, knowing that her little wildcat would go nuts over them.

Indeed, today she finally had a chance to get together with her old group of friends from high school for some pleasant quality time, for once unhampered by other engagements.

It was the unfortunate result of growing up that caused the group to not be able to spend time together like this the way they used to, with jobs and other entanglements of adult life always coming in the way, so it was proving to be more and more difficult to arrange these dates that were suitable for everybody involved to participate in at the same time.

The only one who was unfortunately missing was the former child-prodigy Chiyo, who had vacated to the United States after high school and had only made a scant few visits to her old homeland. Sakaki and the others still kept in touch via e-mail and such, but it was never really the same than having her right there in person.

Still, what could you do? It did leave the group feeling a little incomplete, but they had learned to live with the circumstances and accepting the facts of life. Chiyo's life was now there and that particular fact wasn't showing any signs of changing in the immediate future.

But, save for that small dampener, Sakaki was certain that the rest of the group would be more than enough to distract her from "absent friends" and there was nothing that could deny her from enjoying this day. Particularly as, in addition, there was something else Sakaki was also feeling very happy about. And that was because Kaori would also be joining them today. Ever since Sakaki had come into contact with Kaori again, she had to her surprise found her old friend occupying her thoughts a lot more than she expected. Certainly it wasn't anything she considered really a big deal, but at the same time she did find herself getting more and more excited about spending time with her and for the opportunity of possibly getting to mark her as belonging among her other close friends like she probably should have done years ago.

Also impeding on her mind was her more superstitious side. Contrary to popular belief Sakaki, despite her very logical and silent disposition, was an avid believer in fate, and that everything that happened in one's life had a reason. It was one of the governing aspects that defined her life. Just as fate had ordained her to find herself accepted by people that became very important and close to her, or as fate had brought Maya to her life, or how fate made her give up her job as a vet and become happier by opening her own pet store, so was she also convinced that there was a reason that Kaori had re-entered her life.

At least to Sakaki, it was a clear sign from something more powerful than her that, of all the people she could have bumped into on the street, it was somebody she knew from the beginning days that defined her current happiness. And if that wasn't enough evidence, surely the final proof came as she had to return Kaori's shoes and was thus forced to come face to face with her again immediately the following day. There must have been something more at play here... something that wanted to tell her to cease the moment.

Indeed, fate was once more handing out a gift to Sakaki, and she was going to embrace this opportunity to get close to Kaori, and find out what she really is like even beyond the few morsels of information she had managed to get yesterday while at her home. Then, she could with good conscience call her a real friend of her's.

Rightly, Sakaki had many reasons to be happy this day, and there was absolutely nothing that could sour it for her.

– O –

At the same time, in an apartment in another part of town, a young woman was nervously pacing around her living room. Kaori had spent the entirety of yesterday thinking about what was going to happen on the following day with her excursion to spending even _more _time with Sakaki than she already had, causing her several anxiety attacks along the way, and the more she thought about the idea of hanging out with Sakaki, the more panicked she got.

She had tried to reason with herself that she could essentially hide behind the other girls that were going to be there as well, but even so the implications of Sakaki specifically asking _her _to be there probably meant she'd want to also spend time _with_ her. She knew she was probably reading way too much into this, but Kaori being Kaori, she at the same time couldn't rid herself of the idea that this was just another example of how the world always seemed to want to collapse right on top of her out of spite.

"Maybe I can still cancel..." she thought out loud. "Just call in and say I'm sick or something. Surely she would be sympathetic... or maybe tell her something unexpected came up. Yeah! Something that requires my immediate attention. I mean, those are good excuses, right?" she hopefully reasoned, only to come to a stop in the middle of the room in dejection. "But... then Sakaki-san would be disappointed... And she seemed so happy when I said I'd come along..."

Giving out a long sigh, Kaori looked down to her feet, yet again coming to the same conclusion that she ended up in again and again, no matter what she thought up as a means to get out of the situation she had so foolishly painted herself into: she couldn't let down Sakaki or cause her any grief, no matter how hard she tried to think of excuses that would be understandable.

And the reason for that was simple. She knew those excuses would be lies, and she couldn't bring herself to lie to Sakaki... even if it meant her life depended on it.

"Why... Why must this be so hard? What have a done to deserve this kind of torture? Why must I _feel _this way? Even against knowing nothing can come of them. Why why why why...?" she lamented.

Glancing at the ornate clock on the wall, she noted that it was already half past twelve, and the set time she was supposed to meet her tormentor again was only half an hour away.

Sighing deeply yet again, Kaori decided that there was nothing she could do about the situation, and she would just have to pay for the consequences of her actions. Thusly she closed her eyes tightly for a couple of seconds to gather her wits, took a deep breath, walked to her front door, this time remembered to put shoes on her feet, and left to meet her destiny... what ever that might be.

– O –

"Eh?" Kagura asked with incredulous bluster in her voice.

"I invited Kaorin to join us as well," Sakaki repeated her announcement to Kagura, who seemed to not be believing her own ears.

The two were the first to arrive at the park just a few minutes before one. After a moment of chit chat during which Kagura boasted about a most fantastic sandwich she had had, showed Sakaki her imitation of being on fire, and Sakaki had fed a squirrel with some nuts she had in her pocket, the above announcement Sakaki gave off-hand had caused Kagura to give her friend a hard look of disbelief.

"Why?" she weightily asked.

"Ummm... why not?" Sakaki asked puzzled.

"Well, sorry if I was mistaken, but I thought this was supposed to be a get together of _our _friends, not for... somebody _else__'__s _friends," Kagura said back.

"But she _is_ our friend. I mean, we went to school together and were in the same class. Surely that would qualify her as our friend, right? I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're saying, Kagura," Sakaki countered just as puzzled as before.

"Yeah, sure she was once in the same class with us, like were a lot of other people too. But that's not really the point, Sakaki. What I'm saying is that she's not one of _us_. She's not part of the team," Kagura elaborated.

"The team? What do you mean the team?" Sakaki questioned.

"Yeah, the team. You know, _our _team. isn't the whole purpose of this get together to just get as much of the old crew back together again and have some fun time with just us, not with almost complete strangers?"

"She's not a stranger... I've talked to her a few times. And remember, she even came to Chiyo's beach house that one time..." Sakaki explained.

"Yeah, wow! That's a lot of familiarity for sure. Talked to her a few times? And she came along to the beach house once... Phew, some accomplishment. Seriously, Sakaki. Just listen to yourself. You don't know her at all, do you? And you certainly can't say that Kaorin's particularly close to any of the rest of us either. Or can you actually say that you know her as well as the rest of us?"

Sakaki frowned and stated, "Well, no... but... I don't know. Somehow that just doesn't really sound right. I mean sure I don't know her really all that well, I'll give you that, but that doesn't mean we should just shut her out. She is a nice person after all..."

"Oh, come on Sakaki, you know what I'm driving at," Kagura interrupted, "Kaorin's an outsider, and just because you've talked to her a few times doesn't make her any less so. I mean, it's not like I have anything against her or anything like that, but don't you think it would be better to just share this rare moment we've been afforded with the people that really are close to us, and not having to wonder about entertaining some distant acquaintance?" Kagura asked, and adding after a small pause, "Besides, don't you think Kaorin's a bit... you know... weird?"

"Weird?"

"Well, yeah. You remember how she was, right? How she behaved back in school? All neurotic and bipolar all the time? At one point seemingly shy beyond reason, and the next minute exploding like a firecracker with no apparent reason? Or how she sometimes was behaving as if Armageddon was just around the corner waiting... being full of gloom and doom. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously, that girl's got issues. It's like she's not really running with all spokes attached, you know... I mean... just between you and me, okay... don't you think she doesn't really have all her marbles in one place?"

"Marbles...?"

"Yeah. Meaning, don't you think she's a bit... I don't know... crazy? Do you really want to be associated with somebody like that?" Kagura finished.

"I think you're over-exaggerating. Sure she has eccentricities, but deep down she's really a very nice person if you just bothered to look. For that much I'm sure," Sakaki answered.

"Yeah, _real_ deep down..." Kagura snidely added.

Ignoring Kagura's remark, Sakaki continued, "And even if what you think of Kaori was true – and I emphasise _if _– it's too late to call it off anyway. And I couldn't just tell her to go away either when she arrived here and possibly end up hurting her feelings. Particularly if she's already excited about meeting everybody again. Not to mention, what if say Tomo... or Osaka for that matter was in the same position? Would you think the same about them too?" Sakaki said.

"Well... I suppose they _do _have weird personalities... but I know _them_. I know what they're really like," Kagura reasoned.

"Exactly. Don't you think the same also applies to Kaorin? If you just got to know her better, then she could prove to be a very good friend. So please, Kagura, couldn't you just try to forget everything that's bothering you and try to get along with her... please?"

"Well..."

"For me? If not for anyone else. Please?" Sakaki pleaded.

After a small pause, Kagura just sighed and said, "Okay... I'll give Kaorin a break. But if she tries something, I'll kick her butt."

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Sakaki nervously said, "I promise it'll go fine. Just give her a chance."

"Yeah, fine..."

"Oh, and by the way, Kagura, I almost forgot myself," Sakaki added, "Please call her Kaori."

Kagura gave a blank stare, "Why?"

"Because she doesn't like being called 'Kaorin'."

"But isn't that, like, her name?" Kagura asked while scratching her head.

"Well, yes... but she just prefers 'Kaori'."

"Oh, why don't we just call her 'her majesty' while we're at it?" Kagura sarcastically replied.

Before Sakaki had a chance to say anything back, another voice interrupted their conversation, "Oh, I'd like to be a princess. Then I could ride a unicorn."

It didn't take much to guess who'd make exactly that kind of comment. Kagura quickly turned around and shouted, "Osaka! My goodness, you're a sight for sore eyes."

"Oh? Have you been pressing them? Cause that may be why your eyes are sore. Maybe you shouldn't do that," Osaka said sage-like.

And after only three sentences from Osaka, Kagura was starting to regret she ever said anything.

– O –

At the same time, as the other two women were conversing with Osaka, Kaori parked her Cortina on the street curb and hesitatingly stepped out. She was still feeling the trepidation and fear marking every breath she took, and she could feel her hands shaking.

"_Well, Kaori. Time to bite the bullet... just like you agreed. ...I__'__m so scared!__"_Kaori thought as she began her walk inside the park with a few tears in her eyes.

Upon entering, it didn't take long for her to spot Sakaki standing on the main pathway, along with what appeared to be Kagura and Osaka. _"__Oh, wonderful. The other always says the weirdest things and the other has never really clicked with me... so that only leaves Sakaki-san...__"_Kaori sighed in her head.

"_Guess it__'__s best to just head straight to danger. The offensive is always the most effective strategy... or was that retreat...__"_she thought as she began her advance towards the three women.

– O –

Meanwhile, Osaka was trying to explain her most recent brainstorm: "...It's like Chiyo-chan and the whales," she said before seemingly phasing off into some other far off place.

Earning a blank stare from both Kagura and Sakaki, it was the former girl who begrudgingly then asked, "Okay, I know this is probably a big mistake, but what do you mean, Osaka?"

Osaka snapped out of her blank stare for a moment and explained, "Oh, I just saw this nature documentary on TV and they said that whales are really smart and they communicate in a different way. Chiyo-chan is also very smart and sometimes she says things I don't understand..." she said before her eyes glazed over again as she further continued, "And of course whales can fly like Chiyo-chan."

"Fly?" Kagura asked incredulously, knowing that she probably didn't want to know, but couldn't help asking anyway.

"Yeah... you know, the flying whales in the ocean like the ones on planet Aurelia. And Chiyo-chan flew to America..." Osaka said before her thoughts dispersed into imagining little flying Chiyos and whales mingling together in her little fantasy land.

The other two just looked troubled. "I'm sorry I asked," Kagura said with a frustrated shake of her head.

"Uh... hello?" they suddenly heard from behind them, and turning around, found Kaori standing there looking somewhat apprehensive.

"Kaori..." Sakaki said with a warm smile.

"Kaorin..." Kagura also greeted, though with palpable coolness.

Kaori sensed the cold aura Kagura was sending, and simply contented to give a quiet nod to them. At the same time, Osaka's daytime dream came to a screeching halt and she snapped back to notice Kaori as well.

"Oh... hello there, Kaorin..." she drawled out.

"Ummm... hey, Osaka," she civilly responded.

"So you finally caught her, right?" Osaka unexpectedly continued with a slight smile.

"Eh? Caught her...? C-caught whom?" Kaori asked with confusion.

"You know who..." Osaka said suggestively... which coming from her was something extremely creepy indeed.

Kaori now quickly found herself getting even more nervous than she already was when faced with Osaka's enigmatic hinting. It was incredible to her how the freaky Osakan girl had made her feel with only a few small phrases, managing to frighten her quite thoroughly... and particularly with the deep suspicions that her habitually paranoid mind were now quickly rising to develop about _what _she was hinting at. Osaka's use of the words "her" and "caught" certainly seemed to be pointing at a possibility Kaori did not want to entertain for one second. _"__What is she insinuating at? She... no... she can__'__t possibly know... can she? That__'__s... that__'__s not possible. She can__'__t know of my feelings towards Sakaki-san! (gulp) Th-that__'__s impossible! But, on the other hand... what if she does know? What then? And... and if she somehow does... what__'__s she going to do? Is she going to tell everyone? Oh, no! She can__'__t... she__'__ll destroy my life!__"_

"Y-you must be mistaken, Osaka... I d-don't know what you're t-talking about," Kaori said out loud in a ditch attempt at playing ignorant.

"Oh? You don't? Ah... I thought you did. Sorry. My mistake. I guess I was being a little vague..." she said and fell silent, earning a number of weird looks from around her.

"What are you talking about, Osaka?" Kagura asked puzzled.

Turning her attention to Kagura, Osaka innocently began responding, "Oh... I was just meaning that Kaorin finally nabbed S..."

But before she could finish, she was interrupted by a cheerful and over-the-top "HEY YOU GUYS!!!"

Turning to face the voice, they immediately noticed the widely grinning Tomo Takino heading their way with a PO'd looking Yomi following a little farther behind.

"Hey! What's up?" she greeted everybody else as she stopped in front of the gathered group.

"Hey, Tomo," came the unanimous response.

Without much as taking a pause, Tomo jumped straight into imparting a bit of precious information she had gathered yesterday with Yomi that she had been dying to tell everybody like a ravenous monkey, "You know I just had the best day yesterday. I thought I'd be a friend and bought these really tight pants for Yomi as a present and asked her to wear them... you know, to see how they looked. Then I asked her to peek under her bed for something I lost there, and when she bent over... Ehehehe... you'll love this. The pants split right across her butt! AHAHAHA!!! That was so funny! HAHAHAHA!! That must've been soooo embarrassing! And I can't believe ol' fatso fell for it too! It's like the oldest trick in the book!" Tomo mirthed.

But if Tomo had expected everybody to join in the hilarity of her comic genius, the others just looked on, not finding Tomo's prank really all that amusing. Instead they just shook their heads at Tomo's continued stupidity in pissing off Yomi like that, knowing full well that Yomi's temperament was not really of the forgiving type. Therefore the shock of Yomi's reaction resonated all the more powerfully.

"I'm a bird... I'm a cloud in the sky... I'm floating in a bath of Tomo's blood..." Yomi tensely mumbled as she had by now also reached the rest of the group, earning a number of puzzled looks, not only because of the words, but because Yomi was not giving an uppercut to Tomo like she often did in the past when Tomo was acting like an ass.

"What was that, Yomi?" Sakaki asked curiously.

"Oh, Yomi's been taking anger management classes," Tomo quipped before Yomi had a chance of replying. "That's the kind of talk they teach you there. It's all about being like a twig in a river or free from burden or some crap like that."

"Really, anger management?" Kaori asked Yomi.

"Yeah... I figured I'd need to get some sooner or later before I ended up killing Tomo..." Yomi grumbled.

"And it's real cool too!" Tomo stepped in. "Now I can do all sorts of stuff to Yomi and she's never going to get mad. It's really like a gift that just keeps on giving. Isn't that right, my little sliver of lard?"

The other women just looked on amazed as Yomi took Tomo's insults with not even an attempt at clobbering her... or well, she did look rather murderous at the moment, and they could have sworn that there was visible steam coming out of her ears, but save for that, Yomi held her ground surprisingly well.

"I'm nothing but a star in the sky... a lark in the tree... a calm, peaceful existence..." Yomi continued her mantras while visibly seething inside.

"Wow... she really has a lot of self discipline..." Kagura noted amazed.

Sakaki just sighed and murmured to herself, "This get together is certainly getting off to a good start..."

But as much as everybody else was a bit anxious about what Tomo might come up with again during the day, Kaori was actually quite happy about the presence of Tomo. _"__My goodness, I don__'__t think I__'__ve ever been this glad to see Tomo. Loud Tomo Takino. The centrepiece of everything. Now nobody will have the interest to pay all that much attention to me anymore... Let__'__s just hope it__'__ll stay that way too...__"_

But as if to just slap her in the face, Kagura silently wandered next to her and lowly murmured, "Hey, _Kaori,__"_emphasising the pronunciation of her name, "You know, I don't particularly like you. So know that I'm keeping my eye on you. You try something on us, and I guarantee you'll have me to face. Got it?"

Kaori gulped hard and quickly stuttered, "G-g-got it..."

"Good," Kagura said as she walked off.

"_I__'__ll take it back... I__'__m screwed!__"_Kaori internally wailed.

– O –

_At 1.33 pm, Herikawa Koishi finds her boyfriend Karasuma Takeshi cheating her with her best friend Yamagishi Mio. Koishi__'__s heart breaks that very moment._

_

* * *

You know, if there__'__s one character that__'__s fun to write, it__'__s definitely Tomo. She__'__s just hilarity personified. :D_

_Next up, The Grand Day Out._


	6. The Grand Day Out

_Well, it__'__s been a while since I last updated this, which hung from the fact that I just totally clamped up from thinking what to make these girls do. Well, as it turned out, I made them do essentially what I didn__'__t want them to do, and that was nothing. But I think I got the plot moving forward a little bit here as well._

_Also, this turned to be the longest single chapter I__'__ve written yet, which is quite the achievement for something detailing fairly little physical action. Anyway, hope you enjoy this new instalment._

_

* * *

At 1:34 pm, a mother of four looses her cool when the third youngest of her children thinks it would be fun to pour a carton of milk on the living room carpet._

– O –

The twist of irony didn't fail to hit Kaori. It felt strange for her to be stuck in this situation. Save for having gone to the same university together with Yomi and Tomo, she didn't really have that much contact with any of her high school friends outside of Chihiro.

Neither did the double irony of having _Sakaki_ of all people invite her along to this most intimate gathering out of the blue. Had it been twelve years earlier or so, Kaori would have most likely considered herself to have died and gone to heaven... or another parallel universe closely resembling heaven.

But this was not twelve years ago. She lead a completely different life now, and she had made conscious choices to put Sakaki and all of that behind her. But for whatever reason, it seemed as if the unwanted things always seemed to come her way rather than the things she actually wanted at any given time. How she had wanted for Sakaki to have noticed her all those years ago, and how that just never seemed to happen. And now that she didn't want Sakaki to notice her, all of a sudden Sakaki suddenly paid more attention to her than ever before.

And added to that being thrown together again with this particular group of people, it felt simply weird. In a way she felt so out-of-place being there that she felt like being a stranger in a strange land. She had not failed to notice how during the second year of high school it seemed how all of them had began to gravitate away from her and no longer noticed her in the same way as they previously had. Not helping matters was her transferral to Kimura's class during year three, and you might as well say that whatever slight connection she still had was essentially forgotten... even if Chiyo had invited her to her summer house during that time, but that had always struck Kaori as nothing more than breadcrumbs, no matter whether the intentions were sincere or not.

In the end, Kaori felt like being an outsider, and she certainly didn't feel like belonging in this scene she now found herself being in. But neither could she back away from this now and, to make ends meet, she just decided to get through the ordeal as best she could... and hopefully with no lasting regrets.

"So, what're we going to do today?" Sakaki asked.

"BAR!!!" was Tomo's immediate response.

"We are not going drinking, Tomo!" Yomi said back with exasperation.

"But it's fun," Tomo complained back.

"NO!!!" Yomi voiced her frustrations. "Now, as to the agenda today, I managed to book us a dinner at Porterhouse Steaks. It's supposed to be a really good place with excellent food... or so my co-workers have said. And the few reviews I've read have been really glowing, so I thought this would be a good chance for us to try it out," Yomi stated.

"Sounds great, Yomi! I can hardly wait," Kagura beamed as she was beginning to get more into the spirit of the group outing, with now steaks involved and adamant not to let Kaori ruin it all.

"But the reservations aren't until five, so we have another three or so hours to spend on something else..." Yomi continued.

"LET'S GO TO THE BAR!!" Tomo suggested.

"NO! We are not going to the bar! Will you just forget about the bar!" Yomi raged.

"Awww, man..." Tomo moaned yet again in disappointment.

"SO... to use that time productively, I thought we could educate ourselves a bit by going to the Meiko Kaji Museum of Modern Art!" Yomi excitedly exclaimed while pulling out a brochure from her pocket.

"MUSEUM!?" both Tomo and Kagura exclaimed in utter disbelief. "Come on Yomi! We're not going to some boring museum to watch a bunch of squares and stuff! That's not fun at all," Tomo complained.

"Yeah, Yomi. That really _doesn__'__t_ sound all that fun," Kagura added.

"Oh? Hmh... And I suppose you have something better in mind?" Yomi asked clearly a bit miffed for being snubbed just like that... particularly when it considered one of her own favourite interests.

"Yeah, actually I do! How about we go on a nice, relaxing, sweat-inducing jog? 15 kilometres on the mark," Kagura said with glimmering eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" Yomi gaped.

"Come on! It'll be fun! Trust me. In fact, Sakaki! I challenge you!" Kagura quipped.

"What? No fair. I want to challenge her too," Tomo decided to join in, not wanting to leave behind a chance to show off.

"Nobody is challenging anybody," Yomi quickly interrupted the incoming argument. "Look, Kagura. I know you love to run, and I know you love to challenge people to compete with you, but that's hardly something recreational for the majority of us to do."

"Huh?" was all Kagura could think of to say.

"Mmm... yeah. When you think of it that way... I guess Yomi's got a point there," Tomo said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Thank you, Tomo," Yomi said with relief that Tomo actually agreed with her on something.

"Yeah. I mean, just look at Yomi. Those rolls of her's are just going to weight her down so much that she couldn't even keep up with us more fit people," Tomo said with a bright smile while Yomi could feel her blood pressure to begin rising again.

"How about we go to the other end of the rainbow and find the pot of gold?" Osaka suggested, but was promptly ignored by everybody else.

"Tomo, I swear! One of these days I'll pound your brains out!!" Yomi raged again.

"With how many pounds?" Tomo said back.

"AAARRHHH!!!"

"...and then we could follow the yellow brick road to the ice cream stand that has those nice sugarcoated marshmellow ice creams..." Osaka continued to ramble, now more to herself than even attempting to offer anything to the conversation.

Sakaki stood in silence watching as the group already seemed to be starting to fall apart. Not wanting that to happen she cautiously cleared her throat, though still loud enough to catch everyone else's attention.

"Ummm... excuse me, everyone. But how about this? There's a shinto temple I know with a big garden just on the other side of the park that is very nice... and would make for a great place to be on such a beautiful day. It really is quite a magnificent place and I often like to go there myself to just relax. So why don't we just go there and simply hang out?" Sakaki suggested in her usual quiet manner.

"A shrine?" Yomi asked after a while of contemplation.

"Yes. I assure you it's really a breathtaking place and I believe you'd all enjoy it. After all, who said we actually needed to _do_ something?" Sakaki reasoned. _"__Besides, this way I__'__ll get a better opportunity to get to know Kaori better too,__"_she internally added.

"Well... yeah. I guess you have a point. Indeed, it could be a pretty good way to spend time with each other instead of being distracted by other activities..." Yomi conceded.

"Yeah. By the sound of it, that actually sounds pretty good to me too," Kagura confirmed.

"Osaka? That sound good to you?" Sakaki asked the spaced out girl.

"Yeah. And then we can use the gold to buy lots of frilly underwear," Osaka stated, quite obviously still not really paying attention to the actual conversation.

"Quite..." Sakaki sweatdropped, "Tomo?"

"...Well... uh... well, okay then... since you all seem to want to," Tomo somewhat reluctantly said.

"Oh, what were you wanting to do?" Yomi asked.

"Skateboard down the hill while dodging incoming traffic," Tomo sincerely stated.

"I should have known..." Yomi said while shaking her head.

"Oh, and no use asking that one," Tomo continued while pointing at Kaori. "She doesn't even have a brain of her own to make her own decisions."

"Gee, thanks Tomo..." Kaori panned.

"So is it settled?" Sakaki finally asked, and after receiving nods from all, said "All right. Let's go then. The shrine's just at the other side, right in that direction."

"Okay! Let's go!" Kagura enthused. "Bet I'm the first one there! Sakaki! I challenge you!"

"Hey, hey! No fair! I challenge you too, Sakaki!" Tomo once more piped in.

"But..." Sakaki tried to object, but the two energetic women would have none of that.

"No buts! You're not going to try and weasel out of this one. After all, this was your idea anyway," Kagura shot at her.

"But..." Sakaki tried again, not quite seeing how the race all of a sudden was all her idea.

"And this time, I'll beat you too!" Kagura interrupted, causing Sakaki once again to just accept the challenge, despite not really feeling the desire to do this again.

"Okay, get ready. On the count of three. One... Two... THREE!" Kagura shouted after which Kagura, Sakaki and Tomo sprinted off towards the temple.

Osaka, at the same time snapping out of her contemplation, noticed the sudden departure of the three other girls and, still being a bit confused after her past reverie, set off running after them as well while yelling, "Wait! The sugar-plum fairies are not dangerous! They won't hurt you! Come back! There's nothing to be afraid of!"

This only left Yomi and Kaori watching after the rest of the group as the distance between them grew and, deciding not to bother trying to join in their mad cap race, started calmly walking towards the shrine as well.

It was only after they had walked along in silence for a short while that Yomi decided to strike up a conversation with their surprise guest and settle a few things that had been preoccupying her mind when she had first noticed Kaori's presence in the gathering too.

"So... Kaori. Fancy seeing you here. I didn't know you'd be attending as well," Yomi drawled out.

"Oh... umm... I wasn't... It was just a spur of the moment decision... Sakaki-san invited me to come too, so I accepted the invitation," Kaori explained.

"Oh... Sakaki you say?" Yomi said with a hint of subtext that smacked Kaori straight on her ears.

"It's not like that," Kaori said back.

"It isn't?" Yomi questioned, still reeking of unworded hints.

"No. And don't even start thinking that I have some ulterior motive to be here," Kaori said with a little annoyance.

"I didn't say anything," Yomi innocently said.

"You didn't have to. Don't think I'm not seeing where you're trying to go there," Kaori said.

"Hey, I'm not here to judge," Yomi said and ignoring the glare Kaori shot at her continued, "I mean, all I'm saying is that I'm glad to see you and Sakaki getting along that well..."

"She's just a friend," Kaori interrupted.

"Undoubtedly. And a good friend she is too. Out of the blue wanting to ask you along on our little meeting... yep, a very good friend. Nice to see you making a little headwave there," Yomi said with a wink.

Kaori just gave a long sigh. "_How did I know this might come up...__"_

"Please, Yomi. Don't start this again. I'm not making any 'headwave' with Sakaki. I've told you before that it's over. My function here is to just be a friend, and that's it. I have no more feelings towards her," Kaori said out loud.

"Oh, is that so?" Yomi said with surprise. "Are you a hundred percent sure about that? I mean, really sure? Because I must say I find that a little hard to believe."

"What?" Kaori said with wide eyes.

"I'm just saying that I can't believe you'd go from being head-over-heels in love to nothing at all. And considering all the things you said back in university... though granted you were drunk as a bean, but still... when you unloaded all those thoughts you had about Sakaki on me... well, let's just say, those kinds of feelings don't just magically disappear like that," Yomi said.

Kaori's sudden silence prompted Yomi to further continue, "Besides, wasn't it you who always said to me to be honest with yourself?"

"Hrmmm..." Kaori grumbled.

"It's a good advice, you know. Maybe you should listen to yourself."

"Yeah, right. Easy for you to say. You don't have to worry about anything like this. You're confident, smart, strong... you have that whole sexy librarian thing going for you..."

"The what?! Kaori, you're not trying to hit on _me, _are you?"

"No! Of course not. But... you know what I mean. Anyway, the point is that you have a hell of a lot more going for you than me. I mean, let's face it. I'm a geek. I stare at stars for a living, deal a lot with physics and maths, and like to read scientific periodicals... and romance novels. For heaven's sakes, I have the solar system built in my guestroom. I'm short. I'm scrawny. I'm nothing that you could term athletically able or really even that attractive. So to even think somebody like Sakaki-san would find anything interesting in me is a silly daydream," Kaori slammed.

"Hmh... Don't you think you're taking this whole modesty thing a little too far?"

"Yomi, I'm 29 years old. I think it's time for me to accept the facts of my life. And for all I know, what I felt back then might have been nothing else but infatuation. Or a silly high school crush. You know people have those all the time."

"That so? Mmm... maybe. But that's really something only you can answer. So, was it just infatuation?"

"I... I... Ummm... I don't know," Kaori admitted.

"Well, have you ever felt the same way towards anybody else?"

"Well... no... There's never really been anybody else..."

"So, can we draw conclusions here or... what?"

"doesn't prove anything. Just because I've never felt any strong feelings towards anybody else doesn't mean it's love I felt for Sakaki."

"You know, keep talking like that and you'll eventually even start to believe those things you said are true," Yomi said and continued before Kaori had a chance to interrupt, "And you know you're really not _that _bad like you said. You just have different types of charms. I mean, who knows, Sakaki might find your interests hot. Not to mention, you know you _are _pretty cute... and I think we both know the deal with Sakaki and cute."

"Yeah, sure. Well, since you put it that way, doesn't that now make it all sound a totally realistic possibility," Kaori said sarcastically, "Heck, I don't even know if she goes for women to begin with!"

"Well, you know she's never had a boyfriend as far as I know," Yomi said knowingly.

"Well, has she ever had a girlfriend?" Kaori asked, and when just getting a shrugging look from Yomi, simply said, "See?"

"But, well, isn't that a good thing, though? Meaning nobody knows what she likes. So she could go either way," Yomi encouraged.

Kaori just sighed deeply before tiredly saying, "Or neither... or she could just never have had the chance to find love for herself... Yomi, please just give it a rest. It's never going to happen. I've already accepted this, and the sooner you do as well, the faster I can just put this whole thing behind me. Not to mention, I've made myself look foolish in front of Sakaki enough times already. I don't have any desire to add to that count."

Yomi paused to chew those words for a while before finally sighing deeply and saying, "Well, I guess I can't force you... It's your life after all. Just hope you are a hundred percent sure. After all, you're my friend, and I would hate to see you getting hurt... either through taking action or not."

"Thanks, Yomi. I do appreciate the thought, but this is the way it has to be. Even as it is nice to see you haven't changed that much since university. Still trying to push me into unlikely fantasies even as I can well do that on my own," Kaori responded with a smile.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Yomi laughed back.

"Hey you two! Are you coming or what?" they suddenly heard Tomo shouting from beside the steps of the shrine entrance to which Yomi and Kaori had now also reached.

Kagura was apparently not feeling all that happy considering how she was grumbling to herself, "Ärrin murrin! How could I loose again? How?"

Osaka on her side had keeled over from exhaustion, Sakaki was neutral as usual, and Tomo was tired, but somewhat still positive regardless of apparently having come third, "I was still faster at one point than either of you two!"

Turning her attention back to Yomi and Kaori as they now stood beside the others, "Jeez, you're so slow! What's wrong, Yomi? The rolls weighting you down? That walk must've been so tough for you."

Yomi made a grimace and shut her eyes tightly. "Do not hurt Tomo. Do not hurt Tomo. She'll pay for it all eventually. _You_ don't have to hurt Tomo..." she quietly chanted to herself.

"I feel for you, Yomi," Kaori quietly said beside her while patting her back.

– O –

After climbing up the steep steps, and walking through the torii gate, the group was greeted by a magnificent sight none had really expected even past Sakaki's description. The shrine itself was basically a very traditional affair with its many buildings and basic layout, but what was different was how much more open and sizeable the grounds around the shrine were, particularly for one that was situated in such a close proximity to the more active parts of town. However it wasn't really the wide spaces that made the greatest impact, but it was the fact that the grounds also held a very beautiful looking garden area, which was not something many shrines contained, with a multitude of different flowers. It wasn't really a large garden, but it did have quite the impact on anybody who saw it with its big splash of colour... an oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle.

"Wow... this place is great," Yomi breathed.

"Yes it is. I once chanced to discover this place by accident and felt just the same. I like to come here often to just calm down and think about a lot of things through. The ambiance is really wonderful," Sakaki quietly said.

"I never knew such a place was just around here, so close to a busy part of the city," Yomi further wondered. "This is a real find, Sakaki."

"Yeah, Yomi's easily impressed," Tomo quipped, earning yet another irritated glare from her bespectacled friend's direction. "Anyway, is this where we're supposed to spend the next three hours at? Seems pretty lame, if you ask me."

"No, Tomo." Yomi started. "This is where we'll be spending the next _two _hours, since we still need to take into consideration the journey to the restaurant, too. And we need to use public transports, so..."

"Umm... Actually I came with my car and have it parked just beside the park, so I think we can just all go in that," Kaori interjected.

"Really? Well, that's splendid! Good thinking, Kaori. Then, Tomo, you can just add an additional half-an-hour to that two hours," Yomi said with a grin when Tomo's mouth continued its downward direction.

"Oh, great. Could you be any more helpful there, Kaorin? Could you just anyhow squeeze any more time for us to continue enjoying this rollicking 'fun?' You and your stupid boxy Honda. Just so you know, I still haven't forgiven you for getting rid of the V8 in favour of that stupid nerdy car. That was just a lousy thing to do to me, Kaorin," Tomo lamented.

"Hmh... typical Kaorin," Kagura said under her breath, though still making sure that everybody heard her.

Kaori thought about saying something back to that, but refrained from doing so in face of thinking it wouldn't be of any use. _"__Great. This day just seems to be getting better and better by the hour.__"_

"Oh, man! Over two hours of doing nothing! This is the worst thing ever! You guys suck at being fun," Tomo pouted.

"Oh, no, Tomo. I assure you, I'm having a lot of fun already," Yomi said with a mischievous smile, finding it rather exhilarating for being finally able to get back at Tomo in some way for the past day of unrelenting torture.

"Hey Tomo! Wanna race?" Kagura suddenly jumped up, her running foot starting to itch again from the inactivity after already having had a small taste of the sublimity of athletic movement and craving for some more.

"Race?" Tomo asked, her eyes lighting up again slightly.

"Yeah. Around the buildings there, through the woods, across the garden embankments, then down here, down the steps and up again," Kagura plotted the course.

"Okay!" Tomo jumped on it as well.

"In fact... Sakaki! I chal..." Kagura began but was promptly interrupted by Sakaki.

"Challenge me. Yes I know. But I really don't feel like it right now."

"What? What do you mean you don't feel like it? Come on, this'll be fun. And this time I'll beat you too," Kagura tried to entice Sakaki.

"No, Kagura. I really don't want to run," Sakaki protested.

"Oh, don't be such a spoil sport! It'll be a perfect way to spend some time. And it'll help your metabolism too come dinner time. And thirdly, it'll be great when you can do this sort of thing with your _friends,_" Kagura said with slight emphasis on the word friends.

Sakaki sighed deeply, "You're not going to leave me alone before I agree, are you?"

"Nope. Please, Sakaki. Pretty please please please?"

"Very well," Sakaki said with another sigh, seeing that Kagura would just continue to bug her about this until she couldn't take it anymore. _"__Easier to just say yes.__"_

"Yes! Okay, two laps. Then we'll see whose who," Kagura enthused.

"Hey, you guys coming or what?" Tomo impatiently called out. "I can't wait to beat both of your butts!"

"Yeah, we'll see about that Takino when I first make history," Kagura boasted as the three women lined up to race. "Okay, lets do this! Ready... Get set... GO!"

As the race began, Sakaki seemed to immediately take the lead, but Kagura was doing her best to keep up, while Tomo was probably best just be ignored for her sad attempt at failing to keep up her opening momentum. On the sidelines, Osaka, Yomi and Kaori stood by themselves as spectators, watching as the two + one girls were pushing the most out of themselves yet again, jumping over obstacles, dodging trees and generally showing off their physique.

"Humph," Kaori humphed while crossing her arms as she watched the racers career around the shrine area.

Yomi glanced at her curiously before slyly coming up behind her and asking, "You okay there, Kaori?"

"What? Yeah... yeah, sure. I'm fine..." she absently said, and after Yomi's look didn't leave her, she further elaborated with a somewhat irritated voice, "It's just that Kagura... always challenging Sakaki-san. Even though it's clear she doesn't want to participate..."

"Uh-huh? Yeah, she sure loves doing that, doesn't she?" Yomi smirked.

"It's just so irritating. She just doesn't take other people's feelings that much into consideration apart from her own desires," Kaori lowly said.

"Oh, Kagura's not really that bad. She's just a bit impulsive and competitive, that's all," Yomi said back.

"Still doesn't make it right to take Sakaki-san along to do things she doesn't want to do. That is so... selfish," Kaori said.

"Oh my, Kaori... That isn't by any chance... jealousy I hear?" Yomi grinned.

"Yeah, 'cause Kaorin's in love with Sakaki right?" Osaka suddenly saw fit to pay attention and pipe in on the conversation.

"Wha?" Kaori jumped in shock. "Wh-wh-what did you just say, Osaka?"

"That you love Sakaki? Or that frog princes are really aliens come to seduce Arabian princesses?" Osaka inquired.

"The first one..." Kaori said while turning to Yomi, "I thought I asked you to never tell anybody else."

"I swear, I've never told a soul. I promised I wouldn't, didn't I?" Yomi responded.

"Then how does Osaka... unless... of course... Chihiro," Kaori concluded. "Was it Chihiro who told you, Osaka?"

"Oh, I've known a long time. It was kinda obvious. You know, I'm pretty observant if you haven't noticed..." Osaka sagely said.

"Observant? You? I mean _you?_" Kaori incredulously asked.

"As I said, if you haven't noticed. I'm like the observation ninja. You never see me until it's too late... though I wonder how the ninjas keep those coins in their pockets from rattling. It's pretty distracting when wanting to observe without being noticed. I'd like to know how to do that," Osaka said.

Kaori could feel the advancement of an incoming headache. This was spiralling way out of control. Not only could she trust that only a select few people knew of her former feelings towards Sakaki, now the one person past Tomo she really didn't feel comfortable knowing about it just came forth saying she knew it all. _"__And here I went confirming her suspicions, too. Nice going, Kaori.__"_

"So, are you gonna say something to her soon?" Osaka pushed.

"What are you talking about, Osaka?" Kaori said.

"Well, if you love her, shouldn't you say something to her?" Osaka questioned.

"I don't..." Kaori started before correcting her tone of voice a tad lower, "I don't love her."

"You don't? But I thought you did," Osaka said with wonder.

"Well, I guess you thought wrong," Kaori said with finality, hoping to just shatter those thoughts from the spacey girl's head. At least it was a plan. Deny everything and hope the situation disappears.

"What do you mean, Kaori?" Yomi then jumped in with fake surprise. "I thought you said to me that you loved Sakaki big time."

"Yomi!" Kaori whined. _"__Well, so much for that bright plan...__"_

"Oh, don't worry, Osaka. Kaori's just a bit shy with her feelings, that's all," Yomi winked.

"Ah! Now I understand perfectly. Don't fret, Kaorin. I'm sure you and Sakaki'll be very happy together. You don't need to be afraid," Osaka smiled back.

"Thanks a lot... both of you," Kaori said through clenched teeth.

"Any time," came Yomi's beaming answer.

"So, when are you gonna ask her out?" Osaka decided to continue her questioning.

"I'm not going to," Kaori countered.

"Then you can have a big wedding..." Osaka started to sink into her own little reverie.

"Osaka..." Kaori said.

"...and have lots of children..."

"Osaka."

"...though I wonder how two women do that..."

"Osaka!"

"...Maybe you can adopt... or use science fiction..."

"Ayumu!!!" Kaori finally shouted.

That caught Osaka's attention, "Huh?"

"Please, will you knock that off," Kaori said.

"Wait, Kaorin... W-what did you just call me?"

"Ummm... What? Ayumu?" Kaori asked a bit confused.

"You called me Ayumu?" Osaka asked in confirmation.

"Well... that is your name, isn't it? Or did I remember wrong?" Kaori asked.

"No, but... it's just that not many people refer to me by my real name. I mean, you all guys just call me Osaka like always... and other people I know have other weird names for me like 'freak' or 'snugglebumps' or 'conspirator', but... not many others just ever call me 'Ayumu' for some odd reason. Am I not really Ayumu material?" Osaka asked with sincerity shining from her eyes.

"Um... well... that is... uh... sure. Sure. You're perfect Ayumu material," Kaori happily said, not really knowing what would be a proper thing to say in a surprise situation like this.

"Yeah, Ayumu's a top notch name. It suits you really well," Yomi added.

"Really? Wow... that's cool. I kinda like the sound of that. Like the sound of a wasp in your ear. I like the sound of that too," Osaka said.

"Okay, great Ayumu. Umm... Say, Ayumu?" Kaori asked, wanting to take advantage of Osaka's current state of susceptibility. "Could you possibly do me a favour?"

"A favour? What kind of favour?" Osaka asked.

"Oh, nothing big. Just... could you possibly not mention anything to anybody about that whole Sakaki stuff?"

"Why?"

"Please, could you just do that... for me?" Kaori pleaded with the best look she could muster.

"Sure, Kaorin. Since you ask so nice and all," Osaka smiled.

"Great," was Kaori's quick response as she noted that Sakaki and Kagura had finally got over their race and were now making their way towards the rest of the group, Sakaki again seemingly victorious as Kagura looked like a stormcloud.

"Hey, guys. Had a nice run?" Yomi asked as the two reached them.

"It was okay," Sakaki simply said, while Kagura didn't bother to say a thing.

"Kagura? You okay there?" Yomi asked from her in return.

"Yeah, just swell..." Kagura grumbled.

"I see..." Yomi said with a knowing smirk, before noting that Tomo didn't seem to be among the two other girls. "Uh, say... where's Tomo?"

"I think she passed out somewhere along the run," Kagura imparted. "I wasn't really paying attention. Guess she's somewhere back there."

Yomi sighed, "How typical," and headed off somewhere towards the back of the garden, "Guess I'll have to go find her. I'll be right back."

With Yomi's departure to search for Tomo, Sakaki thought to take an advantage of this distraction, which would probably offer her the best opportunity she'd have to disengage herself from the others for a while and execute her plan "get to know Kaori better than before". _"__After all, if I__'__m going to do this, I better take action sooner rather than later.__"_

"Umm... say Kaori? I think I saw something quite interesting back there when we were racing. I was wondering whether you'd like to come along with me and take a closer look. You know... just us two," Sakaki added to make a small emphasis to the others... not that she wanted to diss her other friends, or to cause any personal slights, but neither did she want interruptions on this particular time if she wanted to really have some one on one time with Kaori.

"Oh... ah... S-sure..." Kaori stammered, feeling her nervous levels rising again for the prospect that Sakaki wanted to apparently isolate herself with her from the others. And it sure wasn't helping as Kagura was giving her the 'evil eye' and Osaka was radiantly smiling as if urging them onward. _"__Sakaki sure has some great friends,__"_she thought lugubriously.

"Then shall we?" Sakaki said as she started heading off to another part of the garden. Kaori didn't feel she had any chance of pulling away, so just obediently fell in step with Sakaki as they left the other two women staring behind them.

"Hrmh... Typical Kaorin..." Kagura said under her breath again.

However, her personal tirade against Kaori was quickly cut short when Osaka's voice suddenly broke in her ears.

"Say, Kagura, would you like some candy?" Osaka asked, producing a pack from her pocket. "I found these from my mom's cabinet when I was visiting my parents a while ago and I forgot them in my pocket. I guess she won't mind if I got a few. They taste pretty good," she said while popping out a little blue tablet and offered some to her friend.

"Candy?" Kagura asked. "Those things don't really look like candy... 'Valium Diazepam'..." she read as she stepped closer to read the text on the carton, "JEEZ, OSAKA! That's not candy! Those are tranquillisers! Gimme those," she screamed as she grabbed the drugs away from Osaka.

"Hey, I didn't say you could take 'em all," Osaka whined.

"Well... I guess that explains a few things..." Kagura said quietly as she shook her head in disbelief. "Hey, Osaka! Have you been popping these for a while now?"

"Just a few... made me feel all nice and loose, too," Osaka dreamily said.

"Good thing these weren't anything stronger..." Kagura said in frustration. "And you're not getting these back, either!"

"Bummer..." was all Osaka could say as she pouted at the ground.

– O –

Sakaki and Kaori walked leisurely in between the flower embankments and trees. It was a wonder that nobody else had got the same idea to go to the shrine on such a perfect day, since it was hardly possible that other people didn't know the place was there. Not that they missed anybody else being there by any means.

"So, what was it that you wanted me to see?" Kaori asked.

"Oh... ummm... yeah, it's right here," Sakaki said as she led Kaori to a tree a little way off. "So, what do you think of that."

Kaori looked at the tree a bit confused, "It seems to be... an ume tree. What about it?"

"Well... don't you find it fascinating that there's only one tree like this planted here?"

"Not really..." Kaori stalled and took a look into Sakaki's face. The taller woman's face was showing some obvious signs of not really knowing what to say, as if her excuse to bring Kaori back there to see a singular tree had been some quickly thought up cover for the fact that Sakaki really didn't have any particular reason to ask her to be there alone with her. Kaori couldn't help but form a small grin at that thought, "That's not really why you wanted me alone here, was it?"

Sakaki blushed slightly, _"__Was I really being that transparent?__"_

"So... what is it? Really?" Kaori asked.

Sakaki glanced at Kaori who was doing the same to her with a little knowing smile. "For real? Okay... Guess you got me. Yeah, you're right... it's not about the tree. Or some other excuse like that. Actually, would you believe it's all just about you?"

"Me?" Kaori asked with a little raise of her eyebrow.

"Yes. You see, there's something that's been bothering me ever since yesterday."

"There has?" Kaori asked a bit worried, fearing that she had possibly done something irrevocably bad without even knowing of committing some offence.

"Mmm... Indeed. Kaori... I... think I owe you an apology," Sakaki said while turning her gaze fully to her shorter friend.

"An... apology? For what?" Kaori blinked now considerably confused.

"For treating you so lousy in high school," Sakaki said with determination.

"What? But... But you didn't treat me badly..." Kaori answered.

"Yes, I did. I was so self-centred back then. I didn't really take a lot of people into consideration the way I should have... you included. And that realisation's been making me think a lot of myself."

"I... still don't... quite see where you're going with this..."

"I've been thinking a lot back to those times, and past my small circle of friends, I never really paid a lot of attention to others. And I realise now how unfair that was. Particularly towards you."

Kaori decided to remain silent, rather wanting to let Sakaki get everything off her chest... where ever this all was going to lead.

"Do you remember what we talked of yesterday? How I thought how people were thinking of me a certain way?"

Kaori nodded.

"Well, maybe they had a reason to think that. I've been doing a lot of re-evaluating of myself since yesterday morning and I... admit that I was... that I was not as good a person as I could have been. And that is exactly what was so unfair when it came to you. You know, nobody had ever really tried to be a friend to me before... Nobody really wanted to have much to do with me out of fear, or awe, or jealousy... or something like that... that is, until you came around. You see, I've been thinking on it a lot, and I really think you were the first one that I remember ever trying to talk to me... as a person. Not as a fangirl. Or a rival, or something like that. But a real friend. Yet, how did I repay you for that? Total indifference."

"Sakaki... I..." Kaori started, feeling a bit embarrassed for Sakaki to suddenly say that kind of things of her, but Sakaki quickly interrupted.

"No, Kaori. I don't want to hear any objections. I treated you really badly back then, and I want to make it up to you."

"You don't have to..."

"Yes. I do. I really do. If for nothing else, then for my conscience. I want to be able to honestly call you my friend. Not just on paper, but in the true meaning of it. And I want to be able to take back those slights I gave you," Sakaki said with finality.

Kaori was frankly rather stunned by how things had suddenly taken a turn to... somewhere. She couldn't say exactly where. Neither was she sure whether this thing Sakaki was proposing was for good or bad. For the good she figured that it might actually be fun to have Sakaki as a friend... on an equal footing with her other friends. Yet, on the other, the old voices came to warn her once again about the dangers moths are in when flying too close to the flame. She had already been through so much pain, dejection and depression before when it came to Sakaki, and she considered herself lucky to have been able to escape generally unharmed.

But what was this new prospect entailing? Could she be Sakaki's friend? Could she really do that? Or would she be walking straight to her own doom? To be honest, the uncertainty scared Kaori terribly. Could she be making the worst mistake of her life?

"_But then again... life is full of risk taking. Just friends. That__'__s it. Nothing more. Maybe... maybe that could work. Uncertain as it is. Oh, God, let me not regret this,__"_she thought.

"Okay, Sakaki-san. I'd love to be your friend," Kaori finally said with a smile, causing an even bigger one to rise on Sakaki's lips... well at least by Sakaki's standards.

"Thank you, Kaori. That makes me really happy," Sakaki was content at saying.

– O –

Unbeknownst to both Sakaki and Kaori, though, their movements did not go unnoticed. Behind a group of trees was Kagura, stealthily watching them, though she was too far away to make out what exactly they were saying.

"Damn that Kaorin. I knew she'd do this..." she mumbled to herself.

"Hey, Kagura! Whatcha doing?" Tomo happily came up from behind her, now fully recovered from the exhaustion of the race.

"Shhhh!!!" Kagura shushed.

Tomo was a bit taken aback by the intensity of the shush, but still wanted to know what her friend was doing crouching behind a tree, "What the heck are you doing, Kagura?"

"I'm watching Kaorin and Sakaki," Kagura answered lowly.

"Okay... Why?" Tomo asked.

"I knew she'd do this. I just knew it. Look at Kaorin. All queenly and possessive like that. Just hogging Sakaki all to herself. This was supposed to be _our _together time, yet she just had to push herself to our group and divide everybody," Kagura seethed.

"Huh? What's gone into you? You sound pretty pissed," Tomo quipped.

"Well, wouldn't you be if, say, a bunch of total strangers came to your house to eat all your food?" Kagura said.

"I guess... though why _would_ total strangers come to my place and munch away all my pocky?" Tomo asked confused.

"It was a metaphor!" Kagura snapped back.

"Okay, that was just a weird one."

"Well, anyway. Kaorin's just that. A stranger come to eat our food. And then taking Sakaki alone there, away from all the rest of us."

"Wow, Kagura. You sound pretty serious. Could it be... no... wait, it.. it couldn't be..." Tomo started.

"What?"

"Are you... are you jealous?" Tomo said with wide eyes.

"Huh? No! What the heck are you saying?"

"Oh, man... this is so good," Tomo said with a wide grin slowly forming on her lips. "Oh, wait till everybody hears..."

"Tomo... Don't you dare spread something like that around," Kagura warned.

"Oh come on, this is top stuff. Oh! Maybe... Maybe you have the hots for Sakaki!" Tomo gasped as if making a big revelation.

"What are you talking about? No, I don't have the 'hots' for Sakaki."

"You don't? Gasp! It's not... Kaorin is it?" Tomo feigned shock.

"Certainly not! Will you stop it with those innuendos. And let me tell you, if you spread any of those fantasies around, I'll clobber you. And unlike Yomi, I don't take anger management classes, so I won't spare my fists," Kagura said threateningly.

"Oh, come on, Kagura! Why so serious?" Tomo flipped. "Anyway, I think I'll just go back to Yomi and Osaka now and leave you spying on your secret lover..."

Before Kagura could chastise Tomo any more, she skipped away and left a very annoyed Kagura behind her. _"__How the hell did it just turn to this?__"_Kagura thought with frustration._"__Oh, it__'__s all that stupid Kaorin__'__s fault. Well, you just wait. The day__'__s far from over.__"_

After that, Kagura thought to follow Tomo as well, wanting to keep an eye on her before she blurted out something stupid, and leaving Sakaki alone with Kaori behind her for now. Though Kagura was now doubly certain to keep Kaori under a very watchful eye should it come to it that she was required to take action against the stargirl.

– O –

_At 3.36 pm, Hanai Seiko lets out a rather loud fart in a room filled with his relatives. He is very embarrassed._

_

* * *

Phew. My first real attempt at doing group scenes and not ignore any of the characters, yet retaining focus on my main objectives. Hope that came out well. Next up, the rest of the day out after which things will take a little bit of a turn... for the best or the worse. Depends on how you look at it. Until then._


	7. In the Gardens of Love

_Chapter 7 is a big piece of conversation. So no chases or explosions or panties flying in people faces. Just so you know. Hope you like._

_

* * *

At 3.50 pm, secretary Nonaka Fujiko lives her long-time fantasy by having sex in a closet with the copy machine repairman._

_A minute later, in his office, Saeki Hiroshi takes a bite out of the delicious sandwich he has prepared for lunch._

– O –

"I love orchids. They are just so beautiful. Wouldn't you agree, Kaori," Sakaki said as she kneeled down beside one of the orchid bushes at the back of the shrine to smell their fragrance.

"Yeah, orchids are some of my favourites, too," Kaori affirmed as she stood behind Sakaki.

Somehow this situation was just so surreal to Kaori. She had not really expected herself to end up alone with Sakaki like this, although she had conceded that the possibility for that happening wasn't exactly a completely closed off scenario.

But at the same time this was just something that felt so odd, particularly as she had never really in her life ever experienced alone time exactly like this before when it came to her former idol. In fact, she had never dared to think of anything like this to really ever having the possibility of even happening outside of her own dream world with which she preoccupied a lot of her free and school time with when she was still a lot younger.

However, what was different about this instance was the tangibly added realism she had never been able to picture in her mind. In her old dreams, every scene like this usually contained Sakaki straddling her in a very close hold and which was always followed by a make-out session that would have made even the most hardened perverts feel uncomfortable. There were a lot of variations to these, of course, but the end result often seemed to be about the same.

Still Kaori had no misconceptions that those were simply dreams and that reality had absolutely nothing to do with them. They simply didn't feel real and Kaori was always careful to make the distinction so as to not end up in a situation where she'd be caught entertaining fantasies as a substitution of reality and possibly skewering her own personal perceptions into the void of actually believing in them. That she most certainly didn't want to ever happen, and she was smart enough to not let those thoughts utterly consume her personal life or her school life so as to not end up ruining her own future.

But this was different. This was inherently outside of those fantasies. This didn't feel like a dream. Nor did it feel like a substitute of anything. No, this indeed felt "real". Real as in the wind that gently circled around her and ruffled the strands of her shortly cropped hair. Real as in the almost overpowering fragrances of the flowers that were all around her. Real as in the sounds of the birds that twittered around her in the summery sky. And real is in the experience of feeling Sakaki really was there in person, talking about this and that and admiring the nature around them.

For the past 20 minutes or so of just _talking_ with Sakaki was making Kaori feel strangely relaxed, a sensation she was not expecting to feel when she thought of all that pent up fear this day inspired in her before, and what the possible ramifications could have resulted in this. No, indeed everything just felt so... nice. Nice and comfortable, two adjectives that had never really gone hand in hand with Sakaki for Kaori in the past.

Also surprising her was the level of active talkativeness Sakaki displayed. Certainly she had seen glimpses of a more open Sakaki earlier during the couple of days she had found herself being in contact with her, but it still felt so strange to hear her asking questions about her life and commenting on a lot of different things. But again, it didn't feel like something alien or awkward, but somehow just... natural. And the best thing about it was how genuinely happy and content Sakaki seemed to feel, completely different to the once so closed off, isolated and statuesque girl she had been in high school.

"I love the summer," Sakaki quietly said after directing her gaze away from the flowers in front of her and to the surrounding fauna. "There's just something so... renewing about summer. It's as if life itself wants to re-invent itself and begin everything over again."

"'Not less are summer-mornings dear to every child they wake, and each with novel life his sphere fills for his proper sake.'" Kaori quietly recited.

Sakaki gave a curious glance at the shorter woman, prompting Kaori to add, "Emerson."

"Ah. So... you like poetry too?" Sakaki asked with a slight smile.

"Oh, it's just a small hobby. Since I have to deal so much with facts and figures, I felt like wanting to balance it off with something more... creative. Or emotional," Kaori explained with a little tint of red on her cheeks.

"Mmm... that sounds like a very nice hobby. Kind of suits you in a way," Sakaki said with a slight nod.

"Really? You think so?"

"Yes. In fact, I'd love to read poetry too. I have sometimes thought that I should start looking deeper into it... It's only that, unfortunately, I've never really understood it all that well. That's why I've never really taken a serious interest in it before."

"Well, yeah... I suppose poetry isn't really for everybody. But then again, different people find different things interesting. It's only a matter of finding what works personally for you."

"Mmm... That's true. But then again, it would still be fun to try and learn new things. There's a lot of things in the world that I've become more and more aware of, and sometimes I feel like wanting to explore those things instead of just passing them by."

"Guess that's a good way of looking at it. Probably one of the reasons why I like astronomy so much. You get to look further out there, where many people will never see, and discover new aspects to life possibly as the first ever person on this planet. New galaxies... or planets... or new astronomical phenomenon. New worlds... I must say, it's all rather exciting," Kaori said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"You really like your job, don't you Kaori?" Sakaki asked as she got up and faced Kaori fully.

"Well... yeah. I... I do like it a lot. I suppose it's just that astronomy's something that I've grown up with ever since my father bought me a telescope for my birthday when I was five, so I guess it was just natural for me to continue with it. Which combined with my lack of skills in most everything else just makes sense..." Kaori said with another blush threatening to explode on her face at any moment.

"I don't believe that," Sakaki interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I don't believe you'd be bad at everything else," Sakaki clarified. "From how you strike me as being, I believe you're quite intelligent, capable... and pretty level-headed. So if you just applied your mind to something, you could accomplish anything. Of that I'm completely certain of."

"Oh, I don't know..."

"Trust me. I can tell that about you. If you can handle something like your current job, then I see no reason why you wouldn't be good at other things too. After all, I was in a similar situation myself when I quit my veterinarian post and started my own store. I didn't know anything about being a manager, but I just decided to go ahead and do it. I learned and I did, and I think I got pretty good at it, too. I don't see why it'd be any different with you," Sakaki explained.

"Well... guess you have a point there..."

"Trust me on that," Sakaki gently smiled back.

"Sure," Kaori smiled back, finding Sakaki's good humour strangely contagious as well. So much so in fact that she almost forgot all the negative thoughts she had been harbouring the whole day. Though it was still not enough to get her completely relaxed, either.

After that the pair once again grew silent, though not uncomfortably so. It was one of those utterly nice moment where everything for once seemed to be in total harmony with one another. And this was specifically a nice feeling for Kaori, as she was so used to angsting out for so many things in her life that these few precious moments of complete calm were truly welcome when ever they presented themselves to her. Even Sakaki didn't come across as a frightening harbinger of doom rather than an enjoyable companion on a summer's day.

Just having talked to Sakaki for a small while had started to settle Kaori down for more positive thoughts about the day and she was surprised at how relaxed she could be in Sakaki's presence. It was almost like an inner expression of comfort that was in a strange way kind and enveloping... like a nice, warm bed. She had never expected that she could feel like this while Sakaki was standing right there a few meters off with nobody else around. Well, at least not in her past... though she thought it might be just the consequences of growing up or something.

But there was also a little thought past that, which tried to pry itself to be a little more pronounced... a thought that Kaori was not sure whether she liked to entertain or not. It was almost a whisper, but it was most certainly there... an invisible hush, a ghost of a thought. But certainly there... covertly tugging at her heart. It was enough to bring a slight unease back to her heart, causing her brain to again reel out reluctant ideas she had not thought of in years and which she had tried to subdue as much as possible.

"_Sakaki-san... what is it in you that's so unique?" _Kaori thought while keeping her gaze in Sakaki's direction as she was enjoying the nature._ "What is it in you that sets you so apart from the rest of the people I know? Why does my heart always feel, despite everything, so... constrained around you? I don't... still love you... do I? I mean, Yomi and Osaka are wrong, aren't they? I don't love you. Maybe I never did. After all, what is love anyway... It has no scientific basis. It's just a random, unpredictable reaction of chemicals... rising serotonin and norepinephrine levels... hormonal movement... triggered by certain physical attributes of another to ascertain mating to take place. But... certainly... what relation does that have to do with you? Anybody else would be just as good, right? With similar physical attributes, building blocks and abilities... So what's the difference? Why indeed doesn't anybody else make me feel similarly? It's not logical."_

After reaching this far in her internal thinking, Kaori suddenly stopped and shook her head, _"Damn it, Kaori. You and your pointless thoughts. You parade yourself as being a scientist, so _be_ a scientist. Use your head. What you once felt toward Sakaki was nothing else but a turbulent mixture of neurochemicals that caused your body to react a certain way. That is all that love, or any of its other sidetracks, are after all. And added to that my body was still going through changes in growing up... That's why my insides were all twisted up, and doing things that made me feel a certain way. Yomi is wrong... I don't 'feel' anything towards Sakaki-san. It's just the cause of instabilities in my body that causes certain reactions to take place... that is all. And whatever 'feelings' I may still have for Sakaki-san now are nothing more than residual information still stored in my memory. It's nothing more than that," _Kaori concluded, happy about that she could thus intellectually justify any illogical thoughts she might still entertain about Sakaki as nothing but random fallacies in the human psyche.

"Kaori?"

"Huh?" Kaori quickly snapped up as she heard Sakaki's voice intruding into her internal soliloquy. "Y-Yeah, Sakaki-san?"

"Are you all right? You seemed a little troubled there for a minute," Sakaki said with a little tilt of her head.

"Oh, it's nothing! Nothing at all. I was just... caught in a little musing, that's all. I'm really fine," Kaori said nervously. "_Jeez, I guess I should really pay attention here."_

"You sure?" Sakaki still pushed on.

"Yes, I am certain, Sakaki-san. Please don't worry about it," Kaori confirmed with more calmness.

"Ah, that's good," Sakaki nodded before again falling silent for a while, her face taking a rather sober and cautious look.

"Umm... Kaori?" Sakaki quietly began again after a few moments, "Mind if I... ask you a question?"

"Sure, Sakaki-san."

"It's a bit... well... embarrassing..." Sakaki said clearly a little perturbed that caused Kaori's nervous level to jump up a few levels.

"Sakaki-san... it's okay. Really, you can ask me anything," Kaori said assuredly, hoping to relieve Sakaki of whatever seemed to be troubling her.

"Really? Because I wouldn't want to cause any... discomfort or... you know..."

"I'm sure, Sakaki-san. Y-you can tell me anything, really. And I promise, whatever you say, I won't spread it about," Kaori said, trying to control the nervousness in her voice which was threatening to break out due to Sakaki's unfathomable embarrassment over something all of a sudden.

"Well... if you're sure, then... Ummm... I just started wondering. That is... have you ever been... umm... well... that is, have you... ever been in love?" Sakaki managed to blurt out.

"What?!" Kaori freaked. _"Where the hell did that come from... Sakaki's not a mind reader, is she?"_

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that!" Sakaki defended when she saw Kaori's shocked expression. "It was just something I thought of and I'm sorry if I got too personal. It's just that... uhhh... well..."

Kaori was still freaked about the suddenness of that particular question coming out of Sakaki's lips, of all the places, but strenuously reigned herself in as much as she could upon seeing how bothered Sakaki seemed to have become. "No, no. It's... It's really all right Sakaki-san... I just... umm... wasn't really expecting that question, that's all."

"R-really... it's... it's all right for me to ask... that? I mean... that was pretty personal..." Sakaki said unsurely.

"No, it's perfectly fine... and no. I can't really say that I have," Kaori responded, fully remembering her previous conclusions.

"You haven't? Really?" Sakaki said with a surprised expression.

"No... well, not really, no... I can't... really say that I have. W-why do you ask?" Kaori said, somewhat eager to get out of this particular conversation.

"Oh... It's nothing really. Just... well... umm..." Sakaki faltered.

Though Kaori knew it would be best for her, and her goals, to not push the matter any further with the nervous woman, her curiousness at Sakaki's odd behaviour was getting the best of her. Therefore she decided to just verbally poke the taller woman forward a bit, "Sakaki-san? What is it?"

"Umm... well... It's a bit awkward. But then again, I guess you'd understand," Sakaki paused and took a deep breath before blurting out, "I've never been in love either."

If there was one thing Sakaki could have said that drove Kaori into utter dumbfounded silence, it was probably this one. _"Well... That was certainly unexpected," _was all Kaori could think, unable to find any words to give a response to that revelation. She wasn't really stunned, but neither did she really know how to react to that little piece of news. It just seemed like such an... odd subject to bring forth now out of nowhere. So the best she was able to do was to just blankly stare at Sakaki's blushing form and hope for her to continue.

"I guess that was a little... strange of me to say," Sakaki gently said.

Kaori just nodded, _"You think?"_

"I suppose I should explain," Sakaki quietly continued on. "I often like to come here to relax... You know, just unwind and think... Let the surrounding beauty and calmness surround me... Feel like being a part of something greater than myself... And find inner peace. That's what I often do here. This place allows me to find harmony in my thoughts. The kind of harmony in which I can meditate and go through various things that have been bothering me or needed to be cleared up..."

Sakaki stopped for a while to glance at Kaori, who was attentively looking back. "But recently there is one thing that has seemingly presented itself to me more and more often... something that just suggested itself to me again just a moment ago. That... I have started to realise that I've never actually been in love in my life before. Or really felt... well... romantically towards anybody."

"I see," Kaori quietly nodded.

"I mean... I do love animals... and plushies... and my friends... but I just don't think... I've ever really felt any strong feelings towards anybody in particular. Or feelings like that. And it has just started to bother me more and more recently. I'm starting to get a little... afraid actually. That is, is there something wrong with me? Or am I just incapable of those feelings? Am I not somehow... normal?" Sakaki asked, her voice betraying a slight tinge of fear or apprehension.

Now that alerted Kaori, "What? Don't be absurd, Sakaki-san!"

"But shouldn't I have had those feelings by now? I mean, I'm already 29 years old, and that's just never happened to me yet. T-there has to be something wrong with me..."

"No, of course there isn't," Kaori was quick to interrupt with surprising hardness in her voice that startled even Sakaki, "Every human being can feel those things... You just haven't found the one to trigger them yet, that's all. There's nothing abnormal about you, I can guarantee that, Sakaki-san. And don't even start thinking contrary, all right?"

"O-okay..." Sakaki said, rather surprised by the vehemence Kaori had suddenly adopted. _"D-did she just get mad?"_

"You're a wonderful person and I can tell you anybody would be lucky to get you. So, don't ever think any lesser of yourself or think that you couldn't feel love or something like that, because speaking like that is just utterly silly. You _can _love and you have a lot to give to whoever you end up with. You'll just need to give it time and it'll happen eventually, just as long as you believe in that. So no. There's nothing wrong with you at all," Kaori passionately said, surprising even herself at how boldly she could speak to Sakaki about this issue... or really the issue at all considering her usual application of logic over her heart.

Of course, once that little realisation wiggled its way into her mind, her insecurities doubled on the way back. "I m-mean, th-that's totally hypothetically, of course, s-since i-it's not like I have f-first hand knowledge of that or anyth-thing, cause like I s-said I've never actually been in love and all and know h-how that all feels or anything. I'm j-just saying that it's not beyond p-probabilities... or like that. Statistically the odds are in your f-favour and all... s-so yeah..." Kaori rambled before deciding that maybe it would be the best to just clam up before she again managed to turn things bad for herself as she had a habit of doing.

Sakaki on the other hand was quite over-whelmed by Kaori's sudden outburst. She hadn't really expected that from her friend-in-the-making. Kaori'd always seemed so... shy. But then again, Sakaki couldn't again say that she knew her well enough to make a supposition of that nature and simply decided to accept that she was learning new aspects of her friend that she had not known of before.

After a short, rather awkward pause during which Kaori was somehow trying to recover from her vehement explosion/embarrassment, and Sakaki was content at looking at her with a somewhat worrisome expression, Sakaki finally decided to puncture the silence. "Kaori? Are you all right? I'm sorry if I got you flustered in that way. It was not really my intention."

"No, it's all right Sakaki-san. I'm perfectly fine," Kaori said exhausted.

"Okay," Sakaki nodded. "As long as you're still feeling good, that's what's important..."

"I am, I promise... Just remember that there is nothing wrong with you. If you want love, you'll find it eventually. You'll just have to keep your eyes open."

"Okay... Thank you, Kaori. That really helped me settle my mind," Sakaki smiled back.

"Any time... Though... one question, if you don't mind," Kaori said.

"Yes?"

"Why me?" Kaori asked, while looking up at Sakaki.

"Umm... What do you mean 'why you'?"

"I mean... why ask that that question from me? You know, instead of the others. Like Yomi. Or Kagura. Or any of them. Certainly they'd be able to answer you more fully with such personal issues. Meaning, we're not really _that_ close, right?"

"Mmm... I guess when you put it like that, I suppose you're right."

"So then... why?" Kaori asked with a little cock of her head.

"Hmm... Well, to be honest... I'm not really sure myself," Sakaki evenly said. "I suppose it was just... a feeling I had. An impulse, if you would. Something that just made me feel like... I could trust you. That you might understand me better, for some reason. I... can't really explain it any better."

"Okay. I guess that makes some sense..." Kaori said, though she wasn't really that sure if it actually made a whole lot of sense. Not to her scientifically trained brain anyway.

"Anyway, I'm still sorry if I made you upset."

"Sakaki, I already told you it's nothing. Can we just drop it, please," Kaori said with a smile.

"Okay. Sorry," Sakaki said as she smiled as well.

"Hmh... You know, I just noticed something," Kaori grinned. "Maybe it's just me, but we do seem to end up apologizing to each other quite frequently, don't we?"

"Oh, umm... I guess so. Sorry... Oh... Ummm... You know, I think you might be right about that," Sakaki said with a slight chuckle.

Kaori didn't bother to say anything and the two just shared a small moment of gentle mirth. Kaori and Sakaki both felt a thankful wave of relief pass by them when sharing this small moment of joy freed from more heavier issues. It was just a small little action, but it had a lot of power to disperse any sense of possible awkwardness from between them.

"Next up we should move to the 'thank you's'," Kaori joked.

"Mmm... indeed," Sakaki acquiesced.

"Krh-mmm-hmm!" suddenly sounded from toward the temple's direction. Turning their heads, they quickly found a rather assiduous looking Kagura standing there with her arms folded over her chest, clearly not feeling all that happy.

"So sorry to interrupt, but the rest of us... you still remember us, don't you? Anyway, we'd be kind of ready to leave... you know, for that _dinner reservation_. And we were just wondering whether you'd like to come or stay behind," Kagura stated somewhat irrately.

"Oh, yes, of course," Sakaki was quick to jump into realisation. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice it was already so late. I was just so preoccupied with speaking with Kaori, that I didn't pay attention to the time."

"Yes, I think we _all _noticed that," Kagura said with a forced grin that certainly held no real good humour, while she shot a glare in Kaori's direction, causing the neurotic girl to flinch a bit.

"Oh... Well, we better head off then," Sakaki said blushing and started towards the rest of the group.

Kaori quietly followed behind, though Kagura was certain to drive her point home by flinging her arm around Sakaki's shoulders when she walked past her. "So, Sakaki. Any chance of getting Yomi to loose her cool on Tomo today, do you think?"

"I think Yomi is strong enough to stand by her conviction..." Sakaki started as Kagura gave a little victorious grin to the trailing Kaori.

"_Your attempts at breaking up the group shall end here, Kaorin. I'll make sure of that," _Kagura thought as she faced front again and indulged her full attention to chatting with Sakaki.

Kaori could do nothing more than feel the pressure mounting once more.

– O –

_At 4.15 pm, a holidaying Brit tries to ask directions in Japanese from a young woman and ends up getting pummeled on the head with a handbag and labeled as a pervert._

_

* * *

Well, this whole thing was actually supposed to be the first scene in the second part of "The Grand Day Out" but the first scene just ended up being so long that I decided to submit this as a full chapter. Therefore I'm hoping for the next chapter to include the rest of the stuff I planned to happen here. Plotwise, at least I think I got some sort of intimacy levels set for both Sakaki and Kaori to ease out their growing friendship._

_Though I must say this whole thing is really not developing the way I was expecting it to. This was supposed to be more humour influenced where Kaori had to try and stay away from Sakaki's advances, yet this is turning into more of a drama where Kaori is well on the way of actually going the exact opposite way. Oh, well, thus it is with the way of unplanned stories. Hope you liked._


	8. Misanthropic Journeys

_My sincerest apologies. This chapter does not advance the plot one bit. Essentially this is a simple transitional affair. I just started writing these events here, and before I knew, I had almost 5000 words of stuff not much to do with the main plot at all. But considering how tough I find to pull anything out of me recently, I__'__m not going to cut or rewrite this stuff because I just don__'__t feel like it. And I__'__ll never get anything done if I go down that road. So I promise that in the next chapter things are going to happen with my main people big time. So please bare with me._

_And, in case somebody doesn__'__t know already, I__'__ve designed a front cover for this story and you are free to check it out here: http:// berlioz-ii. deviantart. com/art/Leave-Me-Alone-98153127 (remove spaces and you__'__re all good to go)_

_

* * *

At 4.17 pm, a street musician decides to put on a performance of a lifetime and plays a one-man rock concert to attentive passerbys. He has never earned as much money as he does today._

– O –

As Kagura, Sakaki and Kaori reached back to the rest of their entourage, it indeed seemed that the rest of them were more than ready to leave. Osaka was trying to feed a caterpillar a leaf with poor success, Tomo was looking rather confused, and Yomi was seen hugging a tree a little way off.

"What's with Yomi?" Kagura asked as she stepped beside Tomo.

"I don't know. I just told her those glasses of her's were making her look older than she is, and she just growled and went off to latch herself onto that tree," Tomo explained, while right after whispering to Kagura rather loudly for a whisper, "I think she may have just found the love of her life," the comment causing Yomi's grip on the tree to grow a bit tighter.

Kagura just sighed and shook her head. "I just had to go off and ask..."

As nobody seemed to be willing to make a move towards the infuriated Yomi, Kaori decided that she might as well go and see about her. _"__After all, what the hell do I have to loose in this group anyway?__"_

Thusly Kaori slowly stepped closer to Yomi and peered at her face while meekly asking, "Yomi? Is everything all right?"

"I... want... to... hit... Tomo... so... badly..." Yomi responded very low while sinking her fingernails deeper into the trunk of the tree.

Kaori just sweatdropped and gave a cheesy grin, "Yes... I'm sure... But maybe you should try and relax before you do something you'll regret..."

"Kaori... just tell me one thing," Yomi said as quiet as before, "Why do I tolerate Tomo?"

"Ummm..." Kaori stalled, not knowing what would be a pleasing answer. "Well... Because she's... umm... your friend... and... and you care about her...?"

"I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, TOMO!" Yomi screamed as she quickly let go of the tree and turned to face Tomo.

"Jealous?" Tomo grinned as a response.

"That does it! I'm going to kick your ass so hard that it'll be numb for months!" Yomi shouted as she lunged toward Tomo.

"Aaagh! Yomi went nuts!" Tomo freaked.

Thankfully Kaori quickly jumped to hold onto Yomi's back, while Kagura sandwiched Yomi from the other side, both managing to just barely hold their spectacles-wearing friend from pummelling Tomo to a bloody pulp.

"Let go! Let go! She's asking for this!" Yomi struggled.

"No! You don't want to do this! Calm down!" Kagura tried to calm the enraged woman down.

"Yeah, you'll regret it later!" Kaori piped in.

"No I won't! She's been a bigger pain to me these past few weeks than she's ever been! She's asking for this!! Can't you see?" Yomi argued, still trying to get free.

It was there that Sakaki decided to come help too as she stepped beside the brunette and said in her usual calm voice, "Yomi, please, calm down. I'm sure you don't want to hit Tomo. What about your conviction?"

"Forget it! I've had enough of anger management!" Yomi said back.

Seeing as Yomi wasn't planning on calming down, Sakaki laid her hand on Yomi's shoulder, earning the bespectacled woman to give a curious glance, and continued, "I'm certain you can handle it, Yomi. You're one of the strongest people I know emotionally, and I'm sure you'd not want to really hurt Tomo in a blind moment of anger and cause all of your hard work to be for nothing. You know you'd end up feeling bad later on, so please, try to calm down... please? Could you just do that... for me? Okay?"

It was as if Sakaki's calmness and steadily pleading voice was infectious as Yomi clearly seemed to relax, slowly stopping her struggling and calming down to something resembling coolness.

It was enough that the other two also dared to let go of Yomi, and allowed her to stand free.

Yomi stood still for a few moments, preoccupied in catching her breath, before she finally said with a tired, yet relieved voice, "Thanks, Sakaki. You're right. I can't let my rage get the better of me. I'm stronger than that. I can handle anything if I just put my mind to it. Tomo's just being Tomo, after all."

"Yeah, just sexy ol' Tomo Ta..." Tomo smugly started.

"SHUT UP, TOMO!!!" Kagura, Sakaki and Kaori all shouted, causing the wildcat to clam up from fright for one of the few times in her life.

Osaka was still feeding the caterpillar.

"You sure you're going to be okay there, Yomi?" Kagura asked in confirmation.

"Yeah, yeah... I'll be fine. I just lost it for a minute there. It's over now," Yomi said in between deep breaths.

"Great... So what say we head on over to that dinner engagement, huh?" Kagura further asked with a smile.

"Okay... sounds good. Let's get going," Yomi said as she started heading off towards the exit with the other three women following.

But before she could reach the portal, she was halted by a surprisingly quiet, "Yomi?"

Turning toward the sound, Yomi irritably asked, "What?"

Tomo simply looked back, seeming a bit uncomfortable as she gazed slightly towards the shoes on Yomi's feet. After a seemingly considerable amount of internal struggling, Tomo finally said, "...Sorry."

It is doubtful that Tomo could have at that moment possibly said another word that would have had the same impact on the surrounding people... or possibly the world, than the one she uttered.

"W-what...?" Yomi asked extremely confused.

"I said I'm sorry, okay," Tomo repeated rather irritably, clearly finding such words offensive in some way.

"I'm sorry... but it was as if I just heard you say something as absurd as... 'sorry'," Yomi said still equally incredulous. _"__Is this another joke? Is she mocking me again... but doing it in some totally weird and original way I just don__'__t get?__"_

"Look, Yomi," Tomo said as she took a deep sigh, "I'm sorry I got you so upset, okay? I guess I pushed you a little farther than I was going to. I live to irritate you but... guess I should know my limits too."

Yomi simply continued to stare at Tomo, almost unable to comprehend what the wildcat's mouth was spewing out. "I can't believe this. I just can't. Tomo... I mean, Tomo. _Tomo Takino..._ is apologizing to me. Is... Is the end of the world nigh? Are we all going to die today?"

"Okay, no need to get sarcastic, fatso! You're not supermodel enough for that... But we're friends... right? So... I guess you're not really that bad I often make you out to be," Tomo said. "And I guess... I guess I couldn't really get along without you. 'Cause you're... still my best friend," Tomo said, finding all this sissy talk incredibly hard to put forward and at the same time feel good about herself while saying it.

"Aww..." Sakaki said, earning a number of looks that caused her to blush remarkably and decide to not say anything anymore, suddenly finding her shoes somehow incredibly fascinating.

"Anyway... what do you say? Will you accept my apology?" Tomo continued, directing her attention back to Yomi.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever hear anything more beautiful in this entire world than Tomo saying 'I'm sorry'," Yomi said with euphoria. "In fact, not even all the most magnificent jewels in this _world_ could compete in beauty with a moment like this. This is like... This is like a historical moment. One that should be documented to future generations. Oh, shintz! I wish I had a video camera..."

"Hey I'm not that bad!" Tomo said in defence.

"Oh, yes you are," Yomi taunted back. "In fact you're worse than bad. You're like the one sin that got away from Pandora's Box but never got mentioned because everybody would have rather caused themselves brain hemorrhage than be reminded of your existence. You're really that irritating."

"You know I might take offence at that," Tomo quietly said back.

"But you won't. And you know why? Because you know I'm right," Yomi said back, still wearing a smug smile.

"Now I wish I hadn't said anything..." Tomo mumbled under her breath.

"You know what, Tomo? I _will _accept you apology. And I promise I'll _never ever _forget it, either," Yomi said while flashing a winner smile.

Tomo decided to say nothing and just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, let's get going everybody. The steaks await us!" Yomi declared as her world had suddenly grown a whole lot brighter than it had been in quite some time. All the others just decided to view the whole episode as a normal 'Toyomi making up' moment, which for any outsider could have looked like a very unusual way to express reconciliation.

As all of this had been taking place, Osaka hadn't paid any attention to anything else but the caterpillar she was still trying feeding the leaf from her hand to.

"Hey, Osaka. You about done there? 'Cause we're kind of going," Kagura called at the spacey girl.

"Ah, but I still haven't given Toshio his lunch," Osaka said matter-of-factly.

"Toshio?" Kagura asked confused.

"Yeah. Toshio. Toshio the Caterpillar," Osaka said while pointing at the bug.

"Oh... Well... umm... You know, Osaka... I'm sure that... Toshio can find his own food just fine," Kagura said.

"But what if he can't? I've been trying to feed him this leaf for a while now and he doesn't seem to understand at all..." Osaka continued with slight worry tinging her words.

At that point Sakaki decided to step in too and said, "Osaka... Maybe he's just not hungry right now. I'm certain he'll eat when he feels like it. Okay?"

"Are you sure, Sakaki-san?" Osaka said while looking straight into the taller woman's eyes.

"Mmm... I promise you, he'll be fine," Sakaki assured.

"Well... okay. I guess it'll be okay if you say so," Osaka said as she got up and gave a sad look towards the caterpillar. "Bye then, Toshio. Please be careful. And don't let those Marduk people get you."

After a collective sweatdrop and general feeling of uncomfortableness, the group was finally ready to leave the temple for their next destination... that is after Tomo decided to forget all about Osaka's thoughts and jumped on Yomi's back unannounced.

"PIGGYBACK RIDE!!!" she shouted, causing Yomi to scream and loose her balance, after which she unceremoniously fell face first on the ground with Tomo on top of her.

"Man, Yomi! You're in terrible shape. You should exercise more if you want to carry me!" Tomo said as she got off Yomi and started running down the stairs. "FIRST ONE DOWN!!!"

"Tomo... Tomo... I... hate... Tomo..." Yomi grumbled, her face in the gravel.

– O –

After Yomi had cleared her mind of a few choice expletives, the rest of the group followed down towards the wildcat's direction, and moved on in the direction where Kaori had parked her car. Kagura had once more adopted her possessive friend posture by slinging her arm around Sakaki's shoulders in an effort to keep the nosey intruder Kaori from thinking she had some sort of special importance in the rest of the group. It wasn't as if Kagura outrightly _hated _Kaori, but something in the other woman had always rubbed her the wrong way. Kagura didn't quite know what that "something" was, or why she felt such great misanthropy to the other person, but then again – as far as Kagura was concerned – that wasn't exactly an important thing to know. If she felt like that towards the neurotic girl, then there had to be a reason, and if there was a reason to feel like that, then it most likely was a good reason. And that was all that mattered.

Yomi was busy chanting in her head the calming mantras that she was sure she'd need when they caught up with Tomo again. Yomi just couldn't understand why Tomo had to be so incredibly annoying. Even the little bits of soberness she displayed every now and again were always somehow undone by her next little bout of irritation. _"__Why, oh, why did she decide to cling on to me back in junior high? Why me?__"_Yet, despite these thoughts, she couldn't deny that when she had tried to distance herself from Tomo in the past, her life had always ended up feeling so empty without Tomo continuously being there, eating her food and making rude jokes. In a way she surmised that Tomo was something that she inherently needed, despite the wildcat habitually making her blood boil. She was like the chaotic element in her otherwise so orderly life which, if removed, would have left Yomi feeling empty and depressed. _"__If only she wasn__'__t quite _that _chaotic...__"_

Osaka at the same time was wondering what she should pack for her trip to planet Arcturus, while Sakaki, on her side, was still going through some of the things she had discussed with Kaori in the garden. In a way, it had felt just so good to talk to somebody about her worries and problems. And even if she indeed had a lot of friends with whom she could share these things, as Kaori had mentioned, somehow none in her close circle of friends made Sakaki feel quite as comfortable to share these issues with. Certainly they'd help, no doubt about that, but at the same time it just felt a bit... awkward talking to them about things like that. Sakaki in all honesty didn't quite like the implications of somehow not being able to trust her closest of close friends, but there you go.

And that wasn't the only thing that was slightly bothering Sakaki. She was also wondering about what made her feel like spilling all of that on _Kaori_ of all people. After all, they had not been particularly close in high school, despite Kaori in hindsight obviously having showed such desire, and they had only now been reacquainted with each other for less than 24 hours in total. And already she was telling Kaori her deepest, most intimate secrets as if they had been the very best of friends for years now. Not to mention she had been doing that from almost day one, beginning with recounting her veterinarian fiasco, and then at Kaori's house continuing with her insecurities. And now she did it again at the temple. It didn't make sense to Sakaki. Yet, in some way she just found it so easy to open up to the astronomy girl, finding in Kaori something inherently... trustworthy. Something... easy. A good, sympathetic listener. And Sakaki had to acknowledge that she liked this easiness. This somebody who didn't judge, but who in her own way understood.

And Kaori, trailing behind the others, was feeling a strange mixture of contentment and misery. This day was certainly proving to be a whole lot different than she was expecting it would be, but she wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. Her private talk with Sakaki had been a revelation and she felt strangely elated that Sakaki had trusted her with things of this nature even over her close friends. Yet, it also worried Kaori. It had become completely obvious after Sakaki's request that the goddess wanted to be friends with her... but exactly what kind of friends did she want them to be? Certainly those things Sakaki had talked of were quite intimate and not meant for just anybody to hear. So why her? Sure Sakaki had given some half-assed explanation, but it was odd considering that they indeed weren't very close to begin with.

But if Sakaki was trying to find from her some kind of a bucket where she could dump all these kinds of things, Kaori was not entirely sure she liked that prospect. She had agreed to be friends with Sakaki, but was Sakaki looking more from this friendship than she had bargained for? And if that was the case, what was to become of Kaori herself? She had spent years in trying to rid her memory of Sakaki and the emotions she had evoked, but if Sakaki wanted to use her as some sort of a comforting pillow, it could essentially spell disaster for Kaori. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the other people surrounding her right now weren't helping. Kagura had already made it quite clear to her that she did not like Kaori, and that she'd rather see the nerdy girl just take a hike. Then Osaka had suddenly decided to show exceptional observational prowess and now knew all about Kaori's old feelings. And Yomi, of course, had to throw fuel on the flames with her insufferable innuendos. Only Tomo still showed no interest in her, but the day was not over yet.

This strange feeling of despondency didn't go unnoticed from Sakaki, as she glanced back at her friend-in-the-making, who was seemingly walking separate behind the rest of the women. It made Sakaki feel a little worried that maybe Kaori was still feeling a little out of sorts and that maybe she was feeling like an outsider still, that being another reason that tugged at Sakaki's heart as being partially her fault in first ignoring the girl in their early acquaintance and then half-dragging her to a group of people she didn't really know that well either. And most certainly Sakaki didn't want Kaori to be feeling uncomfortable or like an outsider.

With her thoughts becoming more concrete, Sakaki smoothly manoeuvred herself from under the arm of Kagura, and dropped to walk beside Kaori. Kagura didn't seem very happy about this turn of events, but neither did she know what she could possibly say or do to make Sakaki _not_ tag along with that infuriatingly self-absorbed astronomer leech. _"__Damn that woman. Again she pulls all the attention to herself and away from the team spirit. I can__'__t believe how selfish one person can be! And there__'__s not even a damn thing I can do about it! Well, Kaorin. Looks like you__'__re lucky for now... but don__'__t think it__'__ll last,__"_Kagura seethed internally as she now found herself alone, and decided that, for the time being, she'd stay in a stand-by formation.

Sakaki, in the mean time, was again turning her full attention to Kaori. "Kaori? Is everything all right? You seem a little... down."

"Huh? Oh, no... I was just... thinking... of various things..." Kaori answered vaguely.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Ah, nothing. Nothing at all. Just... my own personal musings. That's all," Kaori tried answering glibly as she certainly didn't want Sakaki knowing what she was thinking of, and instead turned the tables on Sakaki, "Umm... So... did you want something, Sakaki-san?"

"Oh, no. I was just... well, actually I was just thinking whether you needed something."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well... you just seemed to be a little downcast, so I was just wondering if there was something wrong..."

"No, there's nothing wrong with me at all, Sakaki-san. Like I said, I was just lost in thought," Kaori smiled back.

"You are? I mean, there's nothing bothering you? Like maybe from our... conversation before? Or maybe from something else..."

"Sakaki-san. What are you talking about? Is... Are _you _all right?"

"Huh? Oh, I... I'm fine..."

"Really? Because you seem a little anxious. Sakaki-san... Is there... is there something bothering you?" Kaori asked inquisitively.

Sakaki gave a long sigh, and looked down on Kaori. _"__Might as well say. _I was just wondering whether I was somehow inadvertently causing you grief."

"What? How so?"

"You know, like... maybe I've been pushing myself on to you a little too hard. Harder than you might like. Or that I might have half-willingly dragged you along to this get-together that you might have just agreed upon out of politeness..."

"Oh, no no no... don't worry about it. It has nothing to do with you or me being here or anything. I... I loved to come. Really I did. And... you're really not _pushing_ yourself on to me at all... Trust me, I'm quite happy to be here," Kaori lied her ears off, but reminded herself that it wouldn't do to upset Sakaki who was just acting out of the pureness of her heart.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am perfectly sure," Kaori responded with finality. _"__Wow, I__'__ve never thought Sakaki-san could be so... unsure of herself. She sure doesn__'__t give that out a lot externally...__"_Kaori internally mused, thinking on just how she and others had so terribly mislabelled the lone wolf in the past, and Kaori certainly didn't like the little pain this thought inspired in her heart.

"If... if you're sure. Then, I guess I was just imagining it. I was just afraid that I was unknowingly causing you bad feelings with my behaviour," Sakaki said rather more relieved.

Kaori smirked up to Sakaki, "Why, Sakaki-san... you worry about me?"

"Of course. After all, it was me who invited you along. I'd hate it if that was somehow causing you grief."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that at all. Everything's perfectly fine," Kaori again said with a smile, causing Sakaki to also smilingly nod and "mmm" in affirmation. With her worries appeased for the time being, Sakaki decided to further show her relief by landing her hand on Kaori's shoulder. The action caused Kaori to involuntarily blush out of the sudden close, physical contact of her former idol, but reigned in her alarm with fortitude, letting Sakaki rest her hand over her shoulder... even if it was making her feel their relationship to come across a little too 'coupley' for her taste.

However, Kaori didn't need to worry too long about Sakaki's intimacy, as Kagura was certain to not have missed the little gesture. Therefore she quickly dropped walking beside Kaori as well, and rather heavily dropped her own hand on Kaori's other shoulder, causing the petite woman to flinch a bit.

"So. What're you two talking about behind here so intimately?" Kagura buoyantly asked.

"Nothing much," Sakaki said blushing, but still keeping her hand on Kaori's shoulder.

"Yeah, nothing much," Kaori repeated, feeling now considerably more troubled as on one side Sakaki was flowing warmth into her body, while on the other was Kagura squeezing her strong fingers into her skin.

Thankfully for Kaori, before things could go much further down the path of discomfort, the group was brought back to attention by Tomo walking back towards the others, "Hey, you guys! Will you hurry up already. I'm starving," she called, effectively breaking both Kagura's and Sakaki's holds on Kaori's shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah... we're coming..." Yomi grumbled back irritably.

"Jeez, you people should really take others into consideration at times too, instead of just gazing into your own bellybuttons. I'm hungry!" Tomo complained.

"Tomo, I can't... I... just... Just shut up, okay Tomo? Please? Just shut up," Yomi said, finding absolutely no desire to start arguing with her hyper friend at that particular moment.

"Whatever... if you want to be difficult..." Tomo shrugged and turned her attention to Kaori. "So where's that car of your's? I went around half the park already and couldn't see it."

Kaori, thankful to be able to dislodge herself from the two athletic women and moving up closer to Yomi, answered, "It's near the main entrance to the park."

"All right!" Tomo shouted as she ran off again, leaving everybody staring behind her disappearing form.

"You know... I would have expected Tomo to somewhat calm down the older she got..." Kaori wondered out loud.

"You have no idea how much I love to have those kinds of dreams. No idea at all," Yomi said utterly depressed.

"Maybe Tomo's just got a bug in her butt. It would be a little uncomfortable standing still then," Osaka mused, earning a number of disgusted looks in her direction.

After a moment of more walking, the rest of the women finally caught up to Tomo, who was currently proudly sitting on the hood of a boxy Honda standing next to the sidewalk.

"Finally you caught up," she called out. "You sure took your time."

"You know Tomo, maybe you shouldn't be sitting on..." Kaori started before Tomo jumped down and grabbed the car's passenger side door handle.

"SHOTGUN!!!" She shouted, ready to pounce into the front passenger seat.

Kaori, non-plussed, looked at Tomo for a while, and then calmly walked off to her car parked a little way off along the curb.

Tomo said nothing and just looked as Kaori walked past her and unlocked the door of the car that was certainly not the one she was trying to get into. "W-Wait... um... what?"

"Umm... Sakaki-san? I think you should probably sit in the front..." Kaori said, "....since you're so tall and all," she was quick to add.

"Yeah, obviously..." Yomi was quick to add under her breath, a note that was not meant to pass Kaori's ears... as it did not as Kaori sent Yomi a venomous glare only to be countered by one sent by Kagura immediately after.

"Hey, no fair! I called shotgun," Tomo wailed.

"Oh... well... okay. You can have the seat of that car you just tried getting into," Kaori offered helpfully.

Tomo was not amused, but decided to not put up a fight, "You guys suck..."

Kaori just ignored Tomo's foul mood, and continued, "But I think the rest of you might have things a bit tight since this is essentially a five-seater and there's not a lot of room for four people to sit in the back, so you'll probably have to crunch up a bit..."

"Not necessarily," Yomi quickly interrupted, a little gleam growing in her eyes.

Before anybody had a chance to ask what Yomi meant, she continued, "Tomo. You wanted shotgun? Well, what if I had something even better in mind?"

"Better? Really? Like... what?" Tomo was eager, if a bit hesitant, to ask.

"Only the most exciting seat in the car, that's what," Yomi proudly proclaimed.

"Really? What is it? What? What!?" Tomo asked, her eyes glowing.

"Kaori. Could you lend the car keys for a bit?" Yomi asked.

"Sure..." Kaori said a bit perplexed as she handed the keys to Yomi.

Yomi took the keys, stepped behind the back of the car and opened the trunk. "Ta-dah! May I present to you... The most interesting seat in the car."

"The... The trunk?" Tomo asked a little skeptical.

"Yep. The trunk. Right in there, Tomo," Yomi smiled back.

"Umm... I... don't really know..." Tomo cautiously started, only to be interrupted by Yomi once more.

"What? Wait, are you telling me that Tomo... I mean the _great_ Tomo Takino... would refuse to go into the most exciting and unusual seat in the entire car? She wouldn't be losing her edge, would she? Or... could... could she be... *gasp*... afraid?" Yomi taunted.

"Am not!" Tomo quickly defended, her natural indisposition of being called a coward kicking in, and walked to Yomi's side. "I'll show you who's afraid," she said as she jumped into the trunk and laid there with a defiant look in her eyes. "Well? Whose afraid now, lardy?"

"Well... perhaps I was mistaken," Yomi said as she slammed the lid shut and dusted off here hands.

All the others didn't really know what to say. Certainly Yomi did not just expect them to go with Tomo locked in the trunk... did she? Yomi just looked at the incredulous looks on everybody's faces, and simply reiterated, "Do you want Tomo to sit next to us?" After receiving a couple of hesitant looks and slight shakes of the head, Yomi finished, "Well then, what's the problem? Let's go, shall we."

After a few more uncomfortable exchanges of glances between the rest of the women, they finally reached the conclusion that Tomo would probably be just fine for the duration of the journey, and followed Yomi into the car, with Sakaki taking the front passenger seat as Kaori had requested.

– O –

The ensuing car ride was rather a quiet affair. Not much was spoken, as Kagura was really not in much of a mood to talk considering she was busy stealing glares at Kaori's direction and thinking of how that conniving bitch always seemed to manage wiggling Sakaki into close, personal proximity of her, while Osaka was busy musing on the City of Caterpillarville, and Yomi was looking at the passing scenery, seemingly lost in thought.

Sakaki, as she was wont to do, just watched straight ahead and spoke nothing, bringing out an illusion that she was just a body going from one place to another with complete lack of concern. And Kaori was busy trying to concentrate on driving when being bombarded with Sakaki's closeness, Kagura's glares and the knowledge that Tomo was locked in the trunk of her car so that Kaori had to take things as smoothly as possible. It was all rather uncomfortable, which caused Kaori to instinctively think that there must be something wrong with either her or the car, or most likely both since these things just seemed to happen every time anybody stepped into the Cortina.

As if on cue, after a while of silently gazing out the window, Yomi suddenly popped out of her thoughts and addressed Kaori, "Hey, Kaori. I just thought that if you go through the Kam-pachi Dori, we'll get to the restaurant sooner."

"Kam-pachi... wait... isn't that section laid up with cobblestone streets?" Kaori asked.

"Mmm... Yeah, I think it is," Yomi said.

"Umm... then why...? I mean, there's not a lot of cobblestoned streets around here, so why'd we go around there... you remember that Tomo's in the trunk right?" Kaori questioned.

"Yeah, of course I remember," Yomi said as if stating a fact.

"Well, then... umm..." Kaori again started, but was interrupted by Yomi.

"You know, Kaori. There's actually something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now. You know, just something you'll probably find absolutely hilarious."

After Kaori didn't say anything out of not really knowing what she should say here, Yomi continued, "Yeah, it's actually something _Tomo_ sometimes told to me back in the university... about you."

"Oh...?" Kaori uncomfortably voiced, wondering where Yomi was going with this.

"Mm-hmm. Yeah, it sure was funny, too. I still remember it clear as day how she sometimes called you a brainless know-it-all," Yomi said with a little grin, at the same time noting Kaori flinch a bit. "Yep, she'd just say what an utter baglady you were... drab and uninteresting. A socially awkward nincompoop. And how only a moron would waste their life staring at stars..."

Yomi quieted down for a bit to see if she was having effect with her neurotic friend, and was pleased to note how tense Kaori's body had grown and how her hands were squeezing the steering wheel a lot harder now. "Really...? She said all that...?" Kaori said, trying to sound lighthearted, but her voice coming across considerably strained, each little thing Yomi said having cut her self-esteem like a knife.

"_This is working like a charm... and what__'__s best I don__'__t even have to lie!__"_Yomi internally giggled while saying out loud, "Yep. And that's of course just a couple of things she said about you. Hehe! isn't Tomo funny? She sure knows her way around words, doesn't she?"

"Yeah... I know..." Kaori seethed, not even thinking about doubting Yomi as she knew Tomo well enough to not put much stock in the wildcat's innocence. "You know, Yomi. I think you're right. Kam-pachi Dori _would_ be faster."

Thus they took the sharp and bumpy detour through cobblestoned streets... and doing it with a little more speed than usually would be advisable.

After going through the bumpy streets of Kam-pachi Dori, took another detour through a street construction site, and pulled a few sudden stops in traffic lights, the group finally reached their destination of the restaurant of Porterhouse, Kaori sharply parking the car to an adjacent parking lot not far from the entrance.

After folding out of the car, Kaori marched up to the trunk and popped the lid open, revealing a rather shaken up looking Tomo. "We're here, Tomo. You can come out now," Kaori coldly said.

"Owww... You could have taken things a little softer, couldn't you, Kaorin?" Tomo rigidly said as she tried to move her aching body in the confined space.

"Yes. I could have," Kaori said as coldly as before.

In response, Tomo simply extended her arm and said, "Little help...?"

Kaori grabbed Tomo's hand and, with the additional help of Kagura, they pulled Tomo out of the trunk.

"I don't think I'll try this again..." Tomo said. "Oh, my bones ache..."

"Didn't like it, I presume? weren't having fun?" Yomi asked from the sidelines, lapping up Tomo's misery.

"I like fun... but this may not exactly be the kind of fun I really like..." Tomo said as she painfully stood erect.

"Oh yeah, and Tomo?" Kaori said, grabbing the other woman's attention, "If you say a word to me over the next hour or so, I'll punch you in the nose."

Tomo just looked at her rather dumbly as Kaori walked off past her, and gave an enquiring look toward Yomi, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, let's just say that sometimes karma's a bitch," Yomi smirked. "Now let's go eat, everybody!"

"Yeah, we better hurry, or old gourmet here won't leave anything for the rest of us," Tomo gleamed, her aches apparently forgotten in an instant.

Yomi just shook her head and gave a long sigh, as the group began their trek towards the entrance of the restaurant.

– O –

_At 4.55 pm, a little boy keeps irritating his mother by repeating the words __"__kuru-run kuru-run__"__ over and over again, something he__'__s been doing for hours now._

_

* * *

I have to say this is a strange story for me, since at times it really makes me happy to write it, yet at others depressed all over. At times it just for some reason feels like something I feel I shouldn__'__t have started in the first place, and that in the face of all the accepted Toyomi and Kagaki fics, a story like this is almost something wholly unacceptable and should be burned in a bonfire. And when in that mood it just makes me not want to work on it at all for weeks on end until I feel better again. I__'__ve never had that on any other story of mine. But never fear, I__'__m not going to abandon this story, and I will finish it. It__'__s just strange I get these bouts of utter despondency at times even in face of positive feedback. Anyway, rant over. Hoping the next chapter will follow sooner than this._


	9. Steak

_Okay, I__'__ll be the first to note that this chapter is pretty disjointed, but I don__'__t really now how to make it more tied together. In here I wanted to do a lot of humour, but also do a big, climactic scene. Also I__'__ve said this for many times now, but I promise the Grand Day Out __"__arc__"__ will end in the next chapter. This time I simply don__'__t have as much material left that would force another extension. Funny, though, how this whole thing was originally supposed to be a two chapter ordeal, and it__'__s now going to be a six chapter one. Oh, well, I like that I__'__ll be having a longer story in exchange._

_

* * *

At 4.58 pm, a priest has an epiphany that he does not need to worship God in order to believe in him, and makes a decision to resign in order to become a sherpa in the Himalayas._

– O –

Porterhouse Steaks is an upper-class, American-styled steak restaurant with emphasis on modern elegance and comfort, combining the best of American opulence with a Tokyo twist. From the slick bar and the black leather booths to the striking, sculpted doors and the comfortable mood lighting, the restaurant certainly wants to make it obvious that this is a place of relaxation and where you come to savour good, wholesome food that is both filling and enticing... and most likely also designed for you to just forget the money you're spending. Certainly a place to go for anybody really wanting to treat their friends or co-workers for something a bit more different than your usual Japanese cuisine.

This was exactly what Yomi had thought when she booked the place for their dinner engagement as recommended by her other co-workers. She felt that it would be a lot more interesting a place to go for her and her friends instead of stuffing themselves with sushi, miso soup, yakisoba, or anything else traditionally Japanese as the means for a splendid feast, instead of getting spoiled by something a bit rarer. And as Yomi certainly made a good paycheck, it was in a way a pleasure for her to play the gracious host... and perhaps even flaunt her money in front of her friends. Yes, Koyomi Mizuhara could also be a slightly vain person at times when the opportunity presented itself. Also she sincerely hoped that Tomo, in particular, would behave herself this time lest they end up being escorted outside in embarrassment.

Reaching the front door, the pack of women filed into the main floor of the restaurant, and Yomi immediately went up to the reception desk to see about her reservation. After a small moment of affirming the contents of their group dinner, and accommodating a little for the surprise addition of Kaori, the receptionist immediately led them through the street-level upper room and opened the door to the private suite Yomi had booked so as to have full privacy with her friends.

"Oh, wow... This place is great," Kagura gasped as she took a look around the restaurant and stepped into the private room. "You know I don't often get a chance to go to a fancy place like this, what with my diets and money issues and all."

"Yeah, for once it's useful that Yomi has a high-paying job. She's always so tight with money that she could just as well be on minimum wage," Tomo joked.

"Yeah, because otherwise you'd skin me alive if I gave you even a little bit of leeway," Yomi irritably said.

"Oh, lighten up, Yomi. We're supposed to be having fun," Tomo said, offering Yomi a genuine smile this time before walking off to Kagura, one that made Yomi pause a second and settle down a bit with the hope that maybe the remainder of the day will be better than the first part had turned out to be.

Following the rest of the members of the "team", Kaori was the last one to step into the room and, after having taken a look at the place, she started to feel more and more obtrusive than before, her old insecurities and self-conscious attitude kicking in once more. She wasn't entirely comfortable at seemingly freeloading on Yomi like this, considering that she was a late-comer to this little party to begin with, and now being at an expensive restaurant to boot. It just wasn't what Kaori was all about, and she had to accommodate this somehow to her satisfaction. With that in mind, she quietly walked up to Yomi and said, "Hey, Yomi. I was just thinking that maybe I should pay for my portions of the dinner. I have money and it's not really an issue for me..."

"What? Why?" Yomi asked interrupted, her expression turning somewhat confused.

"Oh, it's just that... well... you know, it's just that I wasn't really even supposed to be here for starters, so it'd just be inappropriate and rude of me to impose myself at your expense and in a place like this..."

"Oh, don't be silly, Kaori," Yomi was quick to interrupt her worrisome friend. "This dinner is my treat, so I'm paying for everything."

"Yeah, but still..." Kaori tried again, but had to quiet down as Yomi placed her index finger on her mouth.

"Kaori... quiet. And will you for once in your life stop worrying so much over other people, okay? Now, I'm paying for everything tonight, and that is the end of it. Accept that. And I do not consider you as a shoehorn here, so just relax and don't worry about money or anything like that. All right, Kaori?"

"But..."

"Ah-ah-ah! I have plenty of money, and I don't often end up using it that much, so please, no arguments. I'm paying and you'll just have to accept that. All right?" Yomi finished as forcefully as she could so that Kaori'd just accept that there was nothing she could do about the situation.

Kaori thought about interjecting one more time, but Yomi's look seemed to command that there was nothing else to be done other than complying to Yomi's wished. Therefore Kaori just sighed and said, "Okay."

"That's my girl," Yomi smirked while patting Kaori on the back. "You'll make a great girlfriend to Sakaki yet," she added in whisper.

Kaori rolled her eyes and countered with, "You hang around Tomo way too much, you know."

"...Yes, I know..." Yomi said with downcast eyes.

With their differences laid aside, the two then moved on to the table where the others were already determining on where they would be settling down to. Kaori took a seat next Osaka, who faced Kagura on the other side of the table. Tomo sat next to Kagura, while Yomi sat next to Tomo in order to keep a close stranglehold on her ADHD'd friend should she go exceedingly wild. Finally, Sakaki took the seat on the other side of Kaori, which made Kagura again give a resentful glare to Kaori, deciding that she had to do something. _"__Damn it! Not again! Kaorin__'__s not getting her way again. This time I__'__m putting my foot down.__"_

"Hey, Sakaki! How about sitting here next to me?" Kagura said out loud.

"Oh... thank you, Kagura. But I'm quite fine sitting here," Sakaki said non-plussed.

"You sure about that? I mean, wouldn't this somehow be better?" Kagura said, motioning to the seat next to her.

"Umm... isn't Tomo already sitting there?" Sakaki asked uncertain.

"Well... yeah. But... she can move. Can't you Tomo?" Kagura forcefully asked.

"What? Move? No, I can't," Tomo said seriously.

"And... why not exactly," Kagura continued, starting to sound rather strained.

"Cause I was here first. And pickers can't be choosers," Tomo said back.

"That doesn't even make sense! No way are you a chooser. You're so a picker!" Kagura argued.

"Am not! I can do thoughtful choosing, instead of just randomly picking stuff. Right Yomi?" Tomo said defensively.

"Yeah right. If only I'd ever see that happening," Yomi mumbled.

A bit miffed at Yomi's non-committal reply, she just turned back to Kagura, "Never mind! I was still here first, and I'm not moving anywhere, no matter how much you want to jump into Sakaki's pants!" Tomo loaded, causing everybody to quiet down into a very uncomfortable silence, with Sakaki and Kagura both blushing bright red and Kaori almost choking on the complimentary water she was sipping.

"W-what the hell are you talking about, you idiot?" Kagura raged, still the very definition of embarrassment.

"Hit a nerve there didn't I?" Tomo smirked, "I mean, that's the reason you want Sakaki to sit next to you, right?"

"That... That is so not true!" Kagura defended.

"Yeah, right! You're so transparent, Kagura. What next? You're going to start calling each other with some stupid nicknames or something? Like... Kagaki... or Sagura, or something equally ridiculous?" Tomo smacked her mouth while giving out a loud laugh on top of it.

"Will you shut up! I told you to stop making those stupid insinuations! I am not attracted to Sakaki, you dolt! And besides, you're one to talk. What about you and Yomi then?" Kagura loaded a new cartridge in her gun.

This time it was Yomi's turn to turn crimson as she spat out a sprinkle of water on Sakaki's face, due to her sitting across her, and exclaimed, "WHAT?!"

"Yeah. I mean come on. You're always together, even though you clearly don't get along. And you've never even had boyfriends, either. So there just has to be something more to it than just simple friendship as you call it," Kagura said.

"No there is not!" Yomi yelled, "The reason why me and Tomo are so much together is because she refuses to leave me alone. I've begged... oh, how I've begged, but it's just completely useless."

"You're just saying..." Tomo taunted.

"No I bloody well am not!" Yomi exclaimed, "And the reason we've never had boyfriends is simply because no guy can stand Tomo for more than five minutes, and whenever _I_ get one, Tomo always scares them away!"

"Hey, I'm just looking out for your best interests, Yomi. I mean, let's face it, your choice of boyfriends hasn't really been that great. I'm just making sure you're not making any mistakes," Tomo said.

"Yeah, well how about letting me make my own mistakes? I don't need your convoluted advice anyway. And for the record, let me tell you that there was nothing wrong with Shinji. Or with Rin. Or with Youta," Yomi said.

"Oh yeah? Shinji picked his nose and _ate _what came out. Eeewwww!!! And Rin was always passing out..." Tomo started.

"He had low blood pressure!" Yomi irritably interrupted.

"Sure. That's what you want happening every time you're having sex. And... come on, 'Youta'? What kind of name is that? You'd get a better chance with somebody who doesn't sound like a dork," Tomo finished.

"Tomo... Tomo I... I... I'm going to... wait... hold on... Tomo...? How did you know that Rin passed out while we were having...?" Yomi asked horrified. "You didn't... did you? Please tell me you didn't?"

"Hey, I was only curious. And I was just fulfilling the role of best friend," Tomo said very candidly.

"You spied on me and Rin!?!" Yomi said almost delirious of rage.

"Yeah, of course. Which is why I think you can do a lot better than some weak-veined loser who'll eventually just collapse all over you, and is probably spastic anyway," Tomo explained.

"I... I can't believe you, Tomo. You... doesn't _personal privacy _mean anything to you?" Yomi said shaking her head in disbelief.

"Mmmm... No... not really," Tomo thoughtfully responded.

"Of course... Stupid of me to even ask," Yomi said now completely drained as she leaned down on the table and placed her head between her hands. She just didn't have the strength anymore. Tomo was a succubus... sucking the will to live out of everything Yomi had. It didn't even matter what Tomo would say now. Yomi just didn't care anymore. "And I haven't even had my steak yet!"

"There, there, Yomi. You still got plenty of time to gulp down those extra pounds. No worries, we'll make a pig out of you yet. A roundy round little piggy wiggy," Tomo helped, which only helped make Yomi more depressed. _"__Guess I was wrong...__"_Yomi dispassionately thought.

The others just felt uncomfortable... or well, everybody excluding Osaka, who was currently more interested with the crystal salt and pepper shakers on the table. But the trio of Kagura, Kaori and Sakaki weren't doing so hot. Kagura was still a strange representation of crimson embarrassment and shock, instilled by both what Tomo had told her about Sakaki and what had followed with Tomo and Yomi. On the other side of the table, Kaori's brain had over-turned, and was now in the process of rebooting, leaving her sitting quite still. _"__At least nobody__'__s paying any attention to me for a change,__"_she mused.

And finally Sakaki looked like somebody had just beat her on the head with a block of wood. Not only was Kagura apparently wanting to "jump into her pants", a prospect that sounded rather... unorthodox to say the least, but then Tomo had imparted some information about Yomi Sakaki wasn't really that sure she wanted to know anything about. And to think that the dinner hadn't even started yet. Certainly this whole day had been a seeming catastrophe from the beginning, mostly due to the irritability of Yomi and the annoyingness of Tomo, two things that weren't anything new, but which now were intruding on what was supposed to have been a fun gathering of old friends. In fact, to Sakaki the only real bright spots in the day had proven to be her interaction with Kaori, who was proving to be a hugely enjoyable addition to the people she knew. It was only unfortunate that it had taken her this long to notice it.

The general feeling of depression, however, was quickly cut short as their hostess for the night came to take everybody's orders and see about any other needs they might have. Yomi decided that she would adamantly try to enjoy the dinner, regardless of Tomo's presence, and concentrated fully on the menu in front of her. This was the cue for all the others as well to snap up and start looking at what they'd eat.

As per the establishment, the prices were certainly not modest, from the ¥4000 Chilled Shellfish Platter and ¥1400 Mushroom Cream Soup to the main courses such as the ¥7500 16oz. New York Strip Sirloin beef, ¥21 000 32oz. Porterhouse "Jumbo" Cut, and the desserts of ¥1200 New York Double Cheesecake or the ¥1000 Seasonal Dessert. Certainly everything, from the appetizers and side-dishes, to the main beef, fish and final desserts looked so absolutely delicious and attractive that it was hard to make choices. After much deliberation on this delicious dish or that scrumptious one, the group decided on their respective dishes that they figured would be the most appropriate for their palates... and all were about equally thankful that Yomi was paying.

Except for Kaori that is. She knew she had agreed to let Yomi pay for everything, but it still made her very uncomfortable in charging Yomi this kind of money unannounced. And particularly when Yomi was already in a fairly irritable mood. With that in mind she had tried to calculate the most cost-efficient meal by cutting off any great appetizers, the soup, side dishes and, even if it hurt her to skip it, the Sauteed Atlantic Salmon in Champagne cream sauce, which she would have just loved to order, salmon being one of those rare things she simply found irresistible. But she simply couldn't make herself to freeload like that, as even all that she _did_ order were already piling up quite large enough a bill. _"__Oh, my poor salmon...__"_

While so miserating on her damned conscience, her musings were suddenly interrupted by a quiet, yet a bit forceful "Kaori?" from her side. Turning her head quickly towards the voice, she found Sakaki looking down at her face with a mixture of curiousness and slight worry.

"Huh? Oh... umm... Yeah, what is it Sakaki-san?" she asked, trying to appear as casual as she could past the fear that she may have somehow been letting her internal thoughts show.

"Is everything fine with you? You didn't seem to hear me when I tried talking to you, and you looked so... sad just now, that I was starting to wonder if there was something..." Sakaki began, before being cut off by Kaori.

"No, it's nothing at all. I just got lost in my thoughts again. Just ignore it, Sakaki-san," Kaori said defensively, not wanting to somehow start to look like some charity case in front of Sakaki. "So... what was it you wanted?"

"Ah, yes. I just wanted to ask you if you had seen the anime Neko no Ongaeshi?" Sakaki asked seriously.

"Uhhh... I don't think I have."

"It begins with this schoolgirl saving a cat prince and then she gets taken into this Cat Kingdom. It's a really, really good movie."

"A-ha..."

"So... I was just wondering... considering you're a scientist and all... umm... do you... think such a place... a-actually exists?" Sakaki finished with a slight blush.

"ehhhhh.... Well..." Kaori stammered, not knowing at all what she should say. It was such an odd question coming from the cool woman that it frankly left her rather speechless, which wasn't helped by Sakaki intently staring at her. "Well... uhhh... I... I guess it could... theoretically be... possible. I mean, there's a lot we don't know about the world and all... and parallel dimensions are theorised about."

"Could such a place exist in some other dimension? Or, maybe on some other planet?" Sakaki further asked, looking really interested.

"Oh, I guess... I'm not really an expert on the theorems on space-time continuums and dimensional travel... but I guess it could be possible. And there's billions of planets we know nothing about, so I guess... theoretically... it could be possible." Kaori answered.

"You really think so?" Sakaki asked with glinting eyes.

"Why not? Stranger things have been discovered that are now perfectly everyday for us all. But maybe Ayumu would know better about that sort of things," Kaori jokingly added.

"Oh? Know about what?" Osaka piped in after having heard her name.

"About possible cat dimensions," Kaori said.

"Oh, yeah those. I know them... though they're usually pretty hard to find. Like that striped, invisible, grinning cat. But I find the cryptid dimensions to be more interesting personally. I would love to visit one and maybe bring one of 'em home as a pet, like a buru, or a jackalope, or maybe a wolpertinger," Osaka said in all seriousness, causing Kaori to give out a nervous chuckle.

Sakaki on the other hand looked even more embarrassed than she was already looking as she continued, "In the film... the schoolgirl turned... into a cat. T-that would be... a dream come true," after which Sakaki furiously blushed.

"Oh, that actually once happened to a friend of mine back in Osaka," Osaka mentioned.

"R-really?" Sakaki asked with great interest.

"Yeah. It was one of them Halloween parties, and this one boy pulled a prank on her by gluing the cat ears on her head. Hehe... She couldn't get them off, so she had to cut off her hair to remove the ears. Otherwise she would have been dressed up as a cat for a very long time to come. Then her parents sued the boy's parents and got a big settlement on damages. Hehehe... But that was a pretty funny prank I must admit," Osaka arrived at a smiling conclusion.

"I'll say..." Kaori said incredulously, which was about enough as at that point the appetizers arrived and the group descended into the beginnings of their dinner proper.

– O –

Without stretching time artificially, the dinner itself proved to be actually a rather pleasant affair. It seemed that what ever differences the women had was washed away, at least temporarily, with the feast they had a chance to enjoy. Indeed, apart from Kagura a few times taking the opportunity to take a few stabs at Kaori's person, a couple which Kaori actually managed to counter with a dose of sarcasm, and Tomo splashing a bit of mash potato on Yomi's face, who surprisingly was able to keep her cool, the dinner went on in general amicability and casual chatting. It made everybody actually feel rather more in tune to what the day was originally supposed to be like.

And most likely the magnificent food was partial to the success, something that certainly was everything and more than was promised, and which was only further heightened by the attentive service that made the expense of the food (and even the ordeals of the past day) feel so unimportant in the grander scheme of things. Indeed, it seemed that catastrophe was averted and that, what was left of the reunion, was likely to not feature anything else going wrong... or at least that was the general hope.

In this general manner, the dinner had now progressed for about an hour or so, and the women were pretty much engaged with their little conversations. Kagura was currently the most vocal as she was recounting some major sporting conquest of her's.

"...so I was just at the last quarter, when this utter dweebet tried to get past me, as if she was somehow trying to be _better_ than me. So you know what I did? I let her gain on me so that she thought she was going to win. And then, when she was like a meter or so ahead of me, I pumped it up and ran right past her just five seconds before hitting the finish line! Hahaha! The look on her face was so precious! She was utterly broken as if somebody had stolen her candy. She cried..."

"You know, Kagura. Sometimes I wonder whether you take this competing thing a little too far," Yomi interrupted.

"Hey, all's fair and straight in honest combat on the track. If you can't take it, then you shouldn't wage war," Kagura philosophically said.

"Yeah sure..." Yomi muttered, not convinced of the truthfulness of the numbnut's reasoning.

"Besides, if I want to make it big one day, I'll never reach my goal by playing nicey nice," Kagura stated as fact.

"Yet you've never beaten Sakaki yeeeeet..." Tomo teased.

"Shut up! It's only a matter of time. And when I _do, _then I know I've reached the highest echelons of sporting goddesses," Kagura said like some kind of an Olympian deity.

"A-ha... and while you're at it try to keep yourself in Sakaki's rapt attention... right, lover girl?" Tomo further insinuated.

"Jeez, Tomo, will you stop it! I do not appreciate your stupid innuendos about me and Sakaki," Kagura growled.

"Oh, why are you getting so flustered? Could it be the hidden emotions forcing their way out of..." Tomo continued.

"NO! Yomi, will you say something to your girlfriend!" Kagura growled.

"She's not my girlfriend!!! We already went through this all, so just... drop it. Both of you," Yomi said deeply irritated.

"Umm... Kagura?" Sakaki suddenly decided to participate. "Is Tomo telling the truth? That you're... ummm... attracted to me?"

Kagura's face blew bright red at that, "No! Please, Sakaki, not you too. I'm telling you, I don't have any such feelings for Sakaki. End of story."

"Your blush tells me otherwise," Tomo taunted.

"S-shut up! Or I'll punch you, Tomo. Do you want me to? Cause I will," Kagura said, though she was starting to sound a bit pathetic.

"Please do," Yomi quietly said.

"Look, will you all just drop this, please. It's just one of Tomo's stupid jokes, that's all," Kagura pleaded.

"I believe you Kagura..." Sakaki said, though her face still wore a slight tinge of pink.

"Thank you, Sakaki," Kagura said gratefully.

"Yeah, I believe Kagura too. After all, she's not really that good at keeping secrets," Osaka suddenly decided to join in the conversation.

"What?" Kagura asked slightly miffed.

"Yeah. My observation ninja skills have revealed to me that you couldn't hold a secret down for long without spilling it. Unlike Kaorin for instance," Osaka said.

The sudden singling out of her by Osaka as some kind of a secret wielder was not really something Kaori wanted to suddenly be brought out in the open and she quietly snapped at Osaka, "Ayumu!"

Unfortunately it was already too late for that as Kagura immediately gave a suspicious, "What secrets?"

"Oh, that Kaorin actually loves Sa..." Osaka started, but was quickly silenced by Kaori's hand that flew over her mouth.

"Sa...?" Kagura questioned.

"Salmon," Kaori quickly answered. "Umm... I... I love... I love salmon."

"...Salmon...?" Kagura suspiciously asked.

Now Kaori was feeling ever so stupid, but it couldn't be helped. She couldn't just let Osaka blurt her Sakaki dreams out to everybody like that, but even she wasn't that fast to come up with some believable substitute. "Ehh... Well yeah... It's... It's true!" she wailed in cover.

The others just looked over each other puzzled.

"It's true... I just... love salmon. It's... one of my weaknesses. But... m-my family _hates _salmon... and... umm... I just love it. So it's a bit of a tricky situation. And... and I just... can't let them know, cause otherwise they... they might be very upset with me and... and... and I don't want that to happen... and that's why I have to keep it a secret..." Kaori mumbled her rather lame excuse, but she truly hoped that the others would buy it, even if she herself was already having major problems with it.

Yomi was finding it incredibly hard to keep a straight face on hearing Kaori's quick save, but interestingly all the others seemed to be buying it for who knows what reason. Kagura still looked suspicious, but Sakaki was completely taken by the explanation.

"Kaori... there was salmon on the menu. Is... is that why you didn't order any even if you love it? Because... you were afraid of this coming out?"

"Uhhh... y-yeah... t-t-that's it, Sakaki-san. I was just so afraid for you all to find out, so... I didn't order any," Kaori pathetically explained.

"Oh, you poor thing. Here... if you want... you can have what I have left. This doesn't have to leave this room, so your secret is safe with us. And I promise your family doesn't ever need to find out at least on our account. Right?" Sakaki added while glancing at everybody at the table.

The others decided to comply with Sakaki's pleading, though Tomo was quick to put that little piece of info behind her ear for possible future use. Kaori on the other hand sighed in relief, gratefully thanked Sakaki for the salmon platter she gave her, and felt happy that the danger had somehow miraculously been avoided. But just to be sure, "Hey, Ayumu. Don't you remember you promised not to say anything about... you know... the 'S' thing?"

Osaka looked at her for a while, before remembering her promise and gave a goofy grin, "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, Kaorin. Guess the whole thing kind of slipped from my mind."

"It's all right. Just watch it in the future, okay Ayumu?" Kaori entreated as she grabbed a piece of that, oh so delicious salmon Sakaki had offered, a plate she could not possibly keep her hands away from a second longer. Maybe the dumbness of the excuse had its advantages after all.

Kagura, on the other hand, had picked up something else and was now staring at Kaori and Osaka. "What the hell was that you just did, Kaorin?"

"Mmm...?" Kaori mmm'd with her mouth full of heavenly salmon.

"What the heck did you just call Osaka?" Kagura asked.

"Ummm... Ayumu? Why?" Kaori asked rather uncertainly.

"Why? What do you mean why? Are you dense or something? I mean, of course you are, but really... why?"

"Because it's her name...?"

"No it's not and you know it. Her name's Osaka," Kagura said knowingly.

This caused a chill of silence to run through the room. It was one of those incredibly awkward moments that just made one wonder what would be the appropriate way to move on. And what made these situations even worse was how the scene would turn all the more awkward the longer the pause continued.

After quite some time, Yomi was the first to recover and break the silence, "Uhhh... Kagura. Osaka's name really is Ayumu."

"Yeah right. Since when?" Kagura asked unbelievingly.

"Since like forever," Tomo said.

"What are you doing? Are you... are you trying to pull a joke on me or something?" Kagura asked in anticipation.

"Nnnnooooo..." Tomo stretched.

"Yeah, Kagura. My name indeed really _is_ Ayumu," Osaka said.

Kagura just gave a long stare at Osaka's smiling face before exclaiming, "What the hell is going on here?! I mean what the hell!? Why the hell is everybody changing their names? First Kaorin changes her's to 'Kaori'. And now Osaka is suddenly 'Ayumu'. What is going on here? Okay, nobody else better be changing their names, or else I'm going to scream."

"Well, actually, now that you mention it... I don't know if you know this or not, but as a matter of fact _my_ full name's actually 'Koyomi'..." Yomi said.

"AAAARRRHHH!!!" Kagura shouted as promised.

"Oh, Kagura, you're so stupid," Tomo said with a smirk.

"Shut up, Tomo!" Kagura raged.

"I mean, come on. How could you think that somebody's name really is 'Osaka'?" Tomo laughed.

"It was an honest mistake. It can happen to anyone..." Kagura said in embarrassment.

"Yeah, right. Which actually reminds me... I don't think you've ever actually told us what _your_ first name is, Kagura," Tomo said.

"M-my first name?" Kagura asked surprisingly squeakily.

"Yeah. What is it exactly? We've known each other for over ten years now, and we still don't know what your first name is. So tell us, what is it?" Tomo pushed.

"It's... it's nothing you'll need to really know... Y-you can just continue calling me Kagura..." Kagura mumbled.

The silence brought upon by that comment from the usually so open woman created another silence that could have been sliced with a chef's no.16 knife. After a minute or so of silence, it was now Tomo's turn to recover first, "Huh? What was all that about just now?"

"Nothing. Just ignore it," Kagura said.

"What? How can you say that? No I must know. What's your name, Kagura?" Tomo pushed.

"I told you to ignore it," Kagura reiterated.

"No! What's your name?"

"Will you please just forget about that, Tomo, and leave me alone!"

"I will not! Now I really must know. And I'll keep on asking until you tell me. After all, if you refuse to tell us, then it _must be_ something I want to know."

Kagura tried looking assistance from the others, but they also seemed to have developed an interest in knowing exactly what Kagura was trying to hide by not telling everybody her first name. Surely it couldn't be that bad.

After desperately trying to find a way out of it, but failing utterly, Kagura decided that there was most likely nothing left for her to do other than to come clean. Sighing deeply, she glanced down at the table and said, "All right... I guess there's nothing to be done about it now... I'll... I'll tell you my first name. Promise me you won't laugh."

Once she got a few rapt nods, she continued, "It's... It's... My first name is... is Kagura."

The ensuing silence was perhaps even more deafening than the one that had just preceded it. "W-what...?" Yomi finally hazarded.

"My name is Kagura Kagura, okay?" Kagura said irritably.

That was Tomo's cue to totally lose it as she started laughing hysterically and beating her fists on the table.

"It's not funny! It's not my fault my parents have lousy imagination. It's not like I asked to be named the same as my family name," Kagura defended.

"Yeah, but that's still so stupid," Tomo mirthed, letting out another burst of laughter.

"W-well... what about Sakaki then? Nobody knows her name either, right?" Kagura said, attempting to find some way out of her predicament, no matter how short the straw was. "So how about it Sakaki? Care to share _your_ first name?"

"My first name? Well... umm..." Sakaki started but quieted down, looking a bit embarrassed herself.

For Kagura this suddenly gave new hope that maybe Sakaki herself had an embarrassing name. Maybe it could be even more embarrassing than her own (if only that could be possible). Maybe... maybe Sakaki had a male name or something. "Come on, Sakaki. Everybody else is sharing, so spill it."

"I must?" Sakaki asked meekly.

"Yes, you do. Come on, out with it," Kagura urged.

"Well, okay. If you insist. It's... it's... it's Misato," Sakaki said while blushing.

For the fourth time a silence dropped on the group within as many minutes, though for different reasons this time around.

"Misato? That was it? Misato?" Kagura asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's correct. It's a bit of a... fancy name... not really that cute... I prefer just Sakaki, to be honest," Sakaki said as she looked down at the table.

"But Misato is such a beautiful name," Kaori said in all sincerity.

"Y-you really think so?" Sakaki asked a bit surprised.

"Yeah. Misato kinda suits you," Osaka agreed.

"Indeed," Yomi concurred.

"Well... eh... t-thank you all... I... I've never really liked it too much myself, but... I guess it's okay if... if you think so. But I think I still prefer Sakaki. So could you still just refer to me by that name, please?" Sakaki said meekly.

"Of course," Yomi said as the others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," Sakaki quietly said and smiled in gratitude.

But Kagura was not feeling very happy. Now suddenly she was the only one stuck with the stupid name. She couldn't even count on Osaka anymore. And not only that, but she hadn't even been able to get Kaori out of the way. For heaven's sakes, Sakaki had even given her a plate of salmon the accursed freeloader didn't even have to pay... not to mention eating all that food on Yomi's tab. With all the irritants around her that day, Kaori was by far the worst offender and Kagura would have been happy if she had just blasted off into her beloved stars this very minute. _"__She__'__s such a user... such a selfish, obnoxious, freeloading attention seeker. God, I don__'__t know how she can just become more and more hateful every single minute...__"_

"Are you enjoying the salmon, Kaori?" Sakaki asked.

"Mmm... yes, very much. It's absolutely delicious. Thank you so much, Sakaki-san," Kaori said with a wide smile.

"Mmm... don't mention it. I'm glad you like it," Sakaki smiled back.

That was enough for Kagura as she slammed her hand on the table, startling everybody with the sudden action. "You know, Kaorin. You really are something."

"What...?" Kaori asked confused.

"Don't you have any shame at all?" Kagura continued.

"Excuse me, but I don't..."

"You're such a selfish bitch..." Kagura mumbled and turned to eat whatever was left of her food.

Kaori was a bit stupefied by Kagura's sudden reaction and the utterly hateful words she said, even more so than what she had expected to ever hear the athlete utter to her. But this feeling didn't last long as her blood pressure was starting to reach it's peak. That was it. That was really it. Now Kaori was starting to get irritated with Kagura. Deeply irritated, and frankly angry. She had tried to put her own dislike of Kagura behind her and not ruin the day, but Kagura just couldn't leave her be. All day long she had made snide remarks and given glares towards her, but Kaori had tried to ignore them. She didn't want to start a fight and possibly ruin everybody else's good time while so doing. And then Kagura had the gall to call her a "selfish bitch" which was really rubbing her the wrong way as she had gone through great pains to _not_ be in the way. Kaori had even offered to pay her own food, for crying out loud! She had so tried to leave Kagura's obvious animosity towards her in its own value, but now Kagura was seriously _asking for it. _And Kaori had really had it.

"You know, Kagura. If you have something to say, then why don't you just say it straight to my face?" Kaori growled.

"You got some problem there, Kaorin?" Kagura asked mock-innocently.

"Problem? Problem? You know perfectly well what the problem is. It's that you're acting like some egotistical bitch with a tent pole stuffed up your ass, that's what the problem is!" Kaori loaded now utterly enraged, and causing everybody to look at Kaori with surprise. Never had they heard Kaori actually say anything that forceful or strong, but obviously Kaori was now more enraged than she had ever shown to them before.

"Some strong words you got there, Kaorin. Be careful, or you might end up getting seriously hurt," Kagura taunted.

"You know what, Kagura. I don't care. And I don't care about your stupid opinions. You've been on my case since you first saw me today, and I have had it! I've tried to be considerate towards everybody, but you just can't leave me alone, can you? You're such a conceited narcissist," Kaori glared.

"Kaori..." Sakaki tried to interrupt.

"No, Sakaki-san. Kagura's been asking for this the whole day long and I'm not going to just sit back and take it anymore," Kaori said back.

"You know, you don't have much room to criticise, Kaorin. You're the one whose whole purpose here is to come in everybody's way and disrupt our group! You're the one whose a selfish freeloader, an outsider who has no place to be here with us!" Kagura attacked in her turn.

"You... you... you know what you are, Kagura? Hm? What you _really _are? A coward," Kaori quietly said.

That did it. Kagura jumped up and slammed her hands hard on the table, "You say that to me again!!!"

"Coward, coward, coward!!!" Kaori mocked.

"That does it. I'm going to teach you a lesson, you scrawny little leech!" Kagura screamed as she lunged toward Kaori. Fortunately Yomi and Tomo were quick to react and hold Kagura back. Even Sakaki got up and went to help them as Kaori also stood up and stepped away from the table.

"Kagura, calm down! Quit struggling!" Yomi said as she reigned down the enraged athlete.

"No, I will not! That nuisance is just asking to get her butt whipped, and I'm going to serve her," Kagura said as she kept struggling.

"No, Kagura, don't do that. Kaori's really a very nice person and I'm sure she didn't mean what she said..." Sakaki said.

"Like hell I didn't..." Kaori mumbled.

"Kaori, please," Sakaki admonished, "But trying to hurt her isn't going to help or solve anything. Please, will you just calm down, sit down and let's talk about this," Sakaki tried to desperately fan down the suddenly ignited situation.

After hearing that, Kagura suddenly stopped her struggling and turned her head towards her friends who were holding her down. "So... is that the way it's going to be then? You're just going to side with her? That leech? Instead of somebody who's been your friend a lot longer? And a closer one at that? Is that what our friendship is worth to you people?"

"No, of course not," Yomi said. "You're still our friend... nothing will change that. But Kaori's our friend too. And we can't just allow you to beat her up. She wouldn't even be a match against you."

"Yes, Kagura. Violence isn't going to do any good," Sakaki added.

Kagura pondered these words for a moment, while glancing back at the shaking Kaori on the other side of the table in turn being comforted by Osaka, and quickly made her mind. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I shouldn't beat the crap out of her, even if I maintain she'd fully deserve it. But... I can't stay here if she does. I... I just can't. So, the best thing I can do... is to just leave."

"Kagura, no. You don't have to do that," Sakaki said calmly. "Let's just talk this over. Let's just get past your differences. Please."

"No... I can't. I just... can't," Kagura lowly said.

Kaori in the mean time had been observing how things were proceeding as Osaka was standing there offering her own moral support to Kaori. Kaori wasn't a habitually violent person and she usually disliked confrontations like this... a reason she usually tried to go out of her way to avoid such situations. But she had been taking enough crap from Kagura during the day to make even her own patience run thin, which unfortunately had taken the form of exploding out in just such a confrontation she wanted to avoid.

But Kagura did have a point, though, even if Kaori hated to admit it. Kaori indeed was an outsider. She had known this from the beginning and she knew that other people present now might share the opinion. Like it or not, even if she tried not to, she _was_ a wedge in the friendship of these people. Had she not been here right now, the others would have most likely had the type of day they were wanting to have. A happy one. A day of friends just hanging out. But no. She had been the outer element in this all, and now things had grown so negative that it most likely was nobody else's fault other than her's.

With these thoughts running through her head, she arrived at her resolution that she saw was the only logical one to reach.

"No. Kagura doesn't have to go anywhere," she started quietly. "She's right. I'm the outsider. I'm the one who escalated this whole thing to this level. It's... all my fault. So, if anyone should leave, it's me." Kaori then pulled out her wallet, took out a roll of yen, and placed it on the table. "If that's not enough to pay for all of the food I ate, then tell me and I'll pay the rest to you, Yomi. Thanks for a most fun day out everybody. Take care. And goodbye."

And with that, Kaori took up her coat and walked off to the doors, taking off towards the exit, and leaving a bewildered group of women looking after her.

– O –

_At 6.16 pm, a metal cruncher scraps a forlorn classic 1968 Toyota 2000GT that any car enthusiast would weep bitter tears over._

_In fact, at the same time, collector Ikeda Shido witnesses this travesty and cries profusely at this tragic loss._

_

* * *

So there you have it. Next chapter should bring about the end to this whole scenario, and I can finally move on to the next day! A couple of comments: Why Porterhouse Steaks? It was the only suitable restaurant I could find with an English menu (me no good with kanji). The anime Sakaki mentioned is Studio Ghibli__'__s The Cat Returns from 2002, which just seemed the perfect anime for Sakaki due to the whole Cat Kingdom thing. Kagura__'__s problems with the names was just a joke thingy that I figured as she came only during year two in the manga, so maybe she just never knew about the real names of her friends, like Ayumu who was referred to as Osaka by even the school roster. And Kagura Kagura? Well, why not? XD + a few other Azu-fiction fan stabs... So yeah. Until next time. Hope you found this at least somewhat good, as I__'__m not 100 percent sure it is._


	10. Très Bien

_Okay, I__'__m done making promises. Just, really I__'__m done, because looks like I__'__ll just end up breaking them eventually anyway. A little point, in order to accommodate Kaori__'__s professional astronomy aspirations a bit better, I__'__ve jumped this story up two years further into the future. Nothing much is changed apart from dates and ages, and I added a little more detail to her explanation about her career to Sakaki in Chapter 3. But that__'__s about it. However I don__'__t want to make the people here any older than they already are (29 at the moment), so I had to make Kaori a bit of a genius in her field to cut corners a bit. So just put that down to creative license. _

_Anyway, a fairly quick update this time, but one I enjoyed writing a great deal. I love doing internal thoughts, so this should go some ways to bring more depth to our characters. Hope you__'__ll enjoy reading as much I liked writing._

_

* * *

At 6:17 pm, a passing business man buys some Sauerkraut from a street vendor._

– O –

Sakaki didn't know what to do. Everything seemed to be spiralling wildly out of control. Somehow things had taken a turn she was not expecting in almost a few flicks of a wrist. She had had a small inkling that Kagura might not be entirely pleased with Kaori's presence, as indicated by what she said previously in the park during their tête-à-tête, but she had been reasonably assured that her older friend (well, in terms of spending time with her) would be able to not pay any attention to any possible ill feelings she might for some reason have had towards her newly acquired friend, and come to realise how good a person Kaori really was, the way Sakaki herself had. After all, Sakaki was a base-optimist, so she had no reason to doubt that Kagura would not get along with Kaori and also find her to be a fairly charming person.

But now the bewildering sequence of events had come to dictate differently and Sakaki could hardly believe how one of her closest of friends could have behaved so violently towards somebody whom Sakaki had come to think of as being actually very sweet and kind... the type of person with whom you could spend quality time with, talking of things and sharing problems or worries with, and always find a sympathetic listener who'd care, and who'd try to make you feel better at the same time. Really, just such a person Sakaki had been missing from her life ever since Chiyo left.

But then again, Sakaki had to acknowledge that she still didn't know Kaori all that well. She had arrived at her own conclusions of her based on the small amount of time that they had had the chance to really get to know each other and thus far the impressions had been favourable. But... there was always the lingering thought in her head that she still didn't know her all that well past essentially first impressions. Kagura, on the other hand, she already knew pretty well. And Sakaki knew that Kagura was also a good person... the type of woman who'd go out of her way to help you if you needed it, and who'd always cheer you up when you were feeling down with that boundless positive energy and good will. Kagura was the kind of person who didn't like to beat around the bushes, but went straight to the heart of the matter and was sometimes right too... not always Sakaki had to admit, but at least 70 percent of the time, which is still a better average than under 50.

Looking at it objectively, Sakaki had to also acknowledge that it _had_ been Kaori who had really escalated the entire situation to a breaking point that way... but then again she couldn't be sure if it had been fuelled by Kagura's actions somehow over the course of the day. Kagura could be forceful in her opinions and Sakaki knew she wasn't one to change them on the fly, while subtlety wasn't really one of her key traits, so it was entirely possible that Kagura had been trying to set a spark off in a canister of fuel. Yet she knew Kagura was not that kind of person to be that antagonistic towards anybody outside of her sporting track. It didn't make sense. Then again, could Kagura have known, or noticed, something bad in Kaori to have made her want to cause just such an explosion to occur and possibly expose Kaori?

But that couldn't be right either. Not in Sakaki's perception anyway. The few moments she had spent with Kaori over the past couple of days, and most specifically, the time they had talked in the temple garden, Kaori had been nothing but kind, polite, sweet and, most important of all, honest. Sakaki could see it reflected in her eyes clear as day that Kaori had meant everything she had said to her before and today. Those were not the eyes of a dishonest person... if anything, those had been the eyes of a sad person, a person who tried to hide that sadness behind a veil of smiles and amicability. But still that sadness couldn't disappear entirely and it made Sakaki feel all the more worried for her. Sakaki wasn't one to poke into other people's lives, but she was finding herself increasingly interested in finding out where this source of sadness and melancholy was stemming from so that she might somehow rectify the situation. Certainly if it was true what Kaori had told her earlier, that she had always felt like the outsider, the "unloved" one... the one who never seemed to fit in anywhere... and certainly Kagura herself had confirmed this very idea only a short while ago... then it would seem so unfair that Kaori should go on feeling like that for the rest of her life. It just didn't seem right. And Sakaki certainly had first hand experience in how bad those feeling felt.

True, Sakaki didn't know Kaori too well, but she could see the gentleness and kindness in her to bring about the desire to make Kaori her friend even more than before. Kaori didn't deserve to be shunned and feel abandoned because of some stupid misunderstanding of her character or something. Not to mention Sakaki was again beginning to feel incredibly guilty over what had happened. She herself had brought Kaori into this situation and, even if it was certainly not her intention to make Kaori end up feeling and looking so despondent and hurt as she had when she said her quick farewells and walked off, Sakaki felt that she was deeply responsible for the well-being of her new friend. And she could never forgive herself if she did not try to do something to make things better.

It only took mere seconds for her to go through all of these thoughts and reach this final conclusion as she sprinted after the departed girl in hopes of intercepting her and pleading for her to stay.

Yomi was equally shocked at what had just taken place. She was used to having fights with Tomo, but it was not a regular occurrence for her other friends to end up in these kinds of things. And now Kaori had obviously been emotionally badly hurt by what had happened, and even if Yomi wasn't entirely sure what had happened, and what sparked this incident, she couldn't deny that there had been a certain tension between both Kagura and Kaori the whole day long. Out of the entire group assembled here today, Yomi was probably the one who knew her the best, considering how they had went to the same university and ended up spending a lot of time together as a consequence... not to mention Yomi was probably the only member of this little group to whom she had confided her thoughts on Sakaki to. Yomi _did _know Kaori had a temper that could at times flare out rather thunderously amid her neurotic storms, but she also knew Kaori to be a generally very emphatic person, so whatever had just taken place was not something that was likely to have happened without provocation. Of that Yomi was certain.

Upon seeing Sakaki suddenly leaving her side and running after Kaori, Yomi decided that now would perhaps not be the best occasion to leave Kaori alone with Sakaki, and quickly followed Sakaki's trail, leaving the three remaining women standing in the room, staring behind the departed personages.

Seeing as the situation had disarmed itself on its own, Tomo also let go of Kagura and sat down to finish her steak. Kagura was left standing in here place a bit perturbed for a while longer, contemplating on what had just taken place, but likewise soon decided to sit down... though she didn't exactly look as complacent as she probably should have in her own mind. After all, she had pretty much managed to accomplish getting Kaori out of the picture, but it still left her dissatisfied, mostly regarding that at the same time she had apparently managed to sharply split the group in two, with Sakaki and Yomi going after the intruding woman, and she was left with Tomo and, at least for the time being, Osaka... But at the same time Kagura also felt a slight tinge of sadness for having apparently been the means to cut her beloved group in half like that, something which had not been the intention. And maybe there was even a slight feeling of guilt mixed in there towards the way she had been treating Kaori, but this she summarily dismissed as something that the "freeloader Kaorin" had no business in making her feel... or at least that is what she told herself.

But still, the look in her eyes had been so... sad? Or was that guilt? Certainly Kagura disliked Kaori... but then why would she feel even slightly bad about making Kaori feel bad? If she was guilty of the things Kagura said she was, then why should Kagura feel bad towards somebody obviously not worth the bother? Was it just because Sakaki and Yomi, the two most sensible people in her group in her eyes, and also the ones she perhaps respected the most in terms of people she herself would turn to in times of need, apparently thought otherwise... or was there something else to it?

"No way is there anything else to it!" Kagura exclaimed and struck her fist on the table.

This snapped Tomo from her meal, as she looked up to Kagura and asked, "What is?"

"...Nothing," Kagura just mumbled and fell back to silence as Tomo just shrugged and turned her attention back to her food.

By this time Osaka had also sat down and was now pondering her own thoughts. She hated confrontations, even if Yomi and Tomo were always at it. But she just figured those two liked doing those things, so it probably made sense for them to fight all the time, but then when it came to other people it was always somehow more devastating and that often resulted in people being hurt and sorrowful, like in an earthquake, which seemed like an apt metaphor, though it was good that the buildings were usually spared in those circumstances and that not a lot of other people got hurt, because it would be pretty sad that whenever people fought that even her own home might be destroyed and then the firefighters and help aid people would have to come and take care of her and she would probably have to move to some hostel for the time being and that would be when the axe murderer would start making annoying phone calls to her, because that seemed to be what they always did before they came to bust down the door with their axes and they'd never even apologise for the inconvenience that they caused since you would then no longer have a door...

Tomo enjoyed her 32oz. Porterhouse "Jumbo" Cut. It was probably the best steak she had ever had.

– O –

On the other side of the doors, Kaori had already made it half way through the room and was advancing towards the exit when she was suddenly halted in her procession by a breathless "Kaori!"

Turning around, she was surprised to see Sakaki quickly coming towards her.

"Wait, Kaori," she said as she made her way towards the defeated girl.

"What is it Sakaki-san? I promise you, I'm going. I won't bother you guys again, so don't worry," Kaori said dispassionately as she turned around again continue on her way.

However, Sakaki was quick to grab her on the shoulder and said, "No, wait. I don't want you to go."

Stopped once more, Kaori turned back to face Sakaki, "What? You don't?"

"No, I don't. Look, I don't know what exactly just happened in there, but whatever it was I'm sorry," Sakaki said.

"You're... _You__'__re_ sorry?" Kaori asked a bit puzzled.

"Yes. I'm sorry if because of me you ended up getting hurt," Sakaki said back.

"B-Because of you...?" Kaori asked once more.

"Mmm, believe me. I had no intention of that happening," Sakaki replied.

"So... really what you're saying is that... you just want to clear your own conscience of blame?" Kaori asked, her heart sinking even further on thinking that Sakaki really was only concerned that she herself was off the hook.

Sakaki, on the other hand, was horrified at being so misunderstood, "No, Kaori, that's not what I meant at all..."

"It's all right, Sakaki-san. That wasn't your fault. It was entirely mine for thinking that I could somehow fit in with your friends. But guess that was just stupid of me, so you don't have to pretend anymore either. I'll just go..." Kaori said again.

"No Kaori, you got it all wrong!" Sakaki anxiously yelled, trying to put more emphasis on her words, and at the same time managed to get the attention of a couple of other people dining in adjoining tables.

Yomi had stayed behind Sakaki's back all this time, trying to see where this conversation might go without wanting to interfere, but upon seeing that the danger for a scene was now more than likely, she quickly jumped up to the other two women. "Ehehe... Excuse us," she said embarrassed to the other on-lookers, and quickly ushered the two women out of their sight and into the nearby restroom. "In there, both of you," after which she followed behind and closed the door.

"Now, let us all calm down here for a moment, and let's not try to make a scene in this very expensive restaurant, all right?" Yomi began.

"I wasn't making a scene. I was just leaving," Kaori said in even tones.

"No, you're not going anywhere. At least not before we talk this over," Yomi said back.

"Yes, Kaori. Indeed, I wasn't trying to imply that it was somehow my fault..." Sakaki said, and after seeing the rather disparaging look on Kaori's face, quickly continued, "Or... or that it was your fault! Or you know, wasn't your fault. I think this is a generally faultless situation all way round... or as far as fault goes, it's probably not that much any one's fault... or... or..."

"Sakaki, I think it would be a good thing if you'd be quiet for a moment there," Yomi said mediatorily, making Sakaki blush and fall silent. "Now, Kaori. Let's just talk this over. This whole situation probably looks worse than it really is. And I'm certain we can all just reach a satisfactory conclusion that will please us all equally."

"That so?" Kaori asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure of it. So towards that end, let's just talk about it and try to figure out how this whole thing really even got started. What exactly happened back there with Kagura?"

"What happened? I think it's pretty obvious what happened. Kagura was behaving like a bitch... all day long. And I for one don't need to take that kind of behaviour from anybody. I don't see what else there is in the situation," Kaori said snidely.

"Well.... Bitch is a bit of a... harsh word..." Yomi stretched.

"Well, Kagura had no problem calling me a bitch, so I don't see the difference in me calling her a bitch," Kaori loaded.

"Yeah, I guess... but what if we just... forget the bitch for a while..." Yomi said.

"I'd love to," Kaori quickly interjected.

"...and try to focus on the _reasons _that lead to this," Yomi finished her proposition.

"Do we have to? I mean, I'd love to play Logic with you guys here in the bathroom, but what're you hoping to accomplish?" Kaori said rather vexated.

"Come on, Kaori. We just want to clear up the air here. Kagura's our friend, but so are you. And we hate seeing either of you out of sorts. We just want everything to be good again, that's all," Yomi said.

"Really now...?" Kaori voiced a bit suspiciously.

"Mmm. I would really feel bad for both of you if things were left unresolved like this. We are just looking after you two. After all that is what friends do, and you indeed _are _our friend_,_" Sakaki added.

"Indeed. You're probably just feeling a bit bad right now, and hurt... and nervous, but we're here to help you. You have to believe in that. Besides, you know we're sensible women. I mean you, me and Sakaki. We're not like Tomo, Osaka and Kagura... who by the way are all alone in the private room of an expensive restaurant right now!" Yomi said in horror and tried to quickly get out of the bathroom only to be stopped by Sakaki's arm.

"No, Yomi. Let's first take care of Kaori, and then deal with Kagura," Sakaki calmly said.

"I have to go, Sakaki. I have to go," Yomi struggled.

"No. This is more important now. We need to talk to Kaori first," Sakaki reasoned.

"But you don't understand! They're all alone there... unsupervised! What if the Bonkuraazu do something... you know, bonkura things?" Yomi said desperately.

"I'm sure they'll behave. Please relax, Yomi. We'll get to them soon enough, but let's try to keep focus on here for a moment, okay?" Sakaki coaxed.

Seeing as Sakaki was not about to let her go, Yomi decided to give in, "Fine. But if we get banned because of them, then I'm blaming you."

"If we're going to talk, shouldn't we still need to get Kagura in here as well?" Kaori suddenly piped in behind the other two.

"Kagura?" Sakaki and Yomi said in synch. "Mmmm... That probably wouldn't be such a great idea at this moment," Yomi drawled and earned a nod from Sakaki.

"Let's just figure stuff out on our own first before putting you two together, and talk to her later," Sakaki determined.

"Okay. Guess there's no way out of this," Kaori agreed with a sigh.

– O –

_Knock knock knock..._

Kagura was frustrated. She was now inherently officially left alone with a space case and somebody more interested in her food, instead of the people who would have been more interested in her personal problems. Not that she didn't like Tomo or Osaka, but they really weren't the people in this circumstance she would have preferred to be there.

_Knock knock... knock_

It was just like that Kaorin to do this sort of thing... indeed the thing Kagura herself had been convinced of since the start. Dividing her closely bonded group of friends into parts. It didn't really bother her that she had essentially been the catalyst for this to have taken place, but as she reasoned to herself it was going to happen anyway inevitably. It was only that she wished that the others... the sensible half... would have seen this also. But no. They had, instead of staying back looking after their closer friend, went after the disturbance... the one rather forgotten. It just wasn't fair.

_Knock... knockknockknock... knock_

You know what else wasn't fair? That that stupid freeloader was now making Kagura herself feel bad too!

_Knock... knock... knock knock knock..._

"Will you stop that!" Tomo suddenly snapped up and yelled.

"What?" Kagura asked bored.

"That incessant knocking! It's really irritating," Tomo responded.

"I like doing it. It calms my nerves," Kagura said.

_Knock knock..._

"Well, it's not. I can't take it much longer, so just stop it," Tomo irately said.

"Wait... Are you saying that you... I mean you, Tomo Takino, are getting _irritated?_" Kagura asked flabbergasted.

"Yeah, what about it?" Tomo asked.

"Nothing..." Kagura said, while internally adding, _"__But I bet Yomi would pay anything to know this.__"_

"What's with you anyway? You've been all jumpy and moody the whole day," Tomo continued.

"What do you mean 'what's with me'? isn't that obvious by now?" Kagura asked.

"Oh, the whole Kaorin getting more attention from Sakaki thing, right?" Tomo leered.

"It's got nothing to do with that. More than anything it's her entire presence here that's my problem. She shouldn't have pushed herself among us like some best friend of Sakaki's or something, and then using every opportunity to grab attention to herself. It's a matter of principle," Kagura said.

"Ah... Jealous much?" Tomo smirked.

Kagura sighed deeply before answering, "Let me make this simple for you, Takino. So that even you understand. I do not love Sakaki like that. She's just a good friend. A _friend. _And me jealous of _Kaorin_? Hardly. I mean even if I had feelings for Sakaki, Kaorin wouldn't even be a blip on the screen. Jealous, yeah right."

"Yet you're the one getting all bent out of shape just because she happened to tag along with us today."

"…"

"Hit a nerve there, didn't I? If Kaorin matters to you so very little, then why don't you just ignore her? After all, it's not like it's really all that difficult. She's hard to notice at the best of times. Besides, nobody else here is bothered that she came along. Only you. So why is that exactly?"

"Why you ask... You know, I don't know whether to be concerned or not in that you're actually seeming to make sense _and _at the same making me almost buy it."

"Hey, it's not like I'm stupid or anything," Tomo defended and ignoring Kagura's eyeroll, continued, "But seriously. Why does Kaorin bother you so? I mean, if we buy it that it's not Sakaki related somehow, then what? You're not falling for Kaorin then are you?"

"No! The whole idea of _that_ is just disgusting."

"Ooo, but now that would be an interesting turn of events," Osaka suddenly decided to offer her five yen.

"Osaka, please don't give Tomo more ammo. She's insufferable as she is," Kagura said back disparagingly.

"But incredibly sexy!" Tomo proudly motioned.

"Right..." Kagura sighed and rolled her eyes.

"But it would still be very interesting. Like in one of 'em romance novels. You know, you going after Kaorin but finding it really hard and difficult to express your emotions. And then Kaorin thinking that you hate her, so she stays away and you'll feel worse because you love her so much, but don't know how to tell her, and then, of course, her liking Sa... ahm... that is... uhm..." Osaka slipped again, but luckily caught herself in time.

"What Osaka? Look, we already know she likes salmon, but that really has nothing to do with the discussion at hand and... wait, am I actually trying to reason with Osaka's thought processes? Anyway, the point is it is an utterly absurd suggestion that I'd find Kaorin even remotely interesting or, God forbid, attractive," Kagura said conclusively.

"You sure about that? You could be in serious denial... or incredibly shy," Tomo suggested.

"Oh, be quiet... and what the heck am I even doing talking about this sort of stuff with you? And since when have I even said I'd necessarily have to go for girls to begin with?" Kagura loaded.

"Well, didn't you once say girls are preferable to you because that made it more exciting?"

"GAH! Guys, girls... what's the difference?!"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that you like to dip into many ponds."

"How does Yomi stand you?! Seriously!" Kagura screeched.

"Oh, she wouldn't be able to get along without me," Tomo proudly stated.

"Allow me to doubt the truthfulness of that... But regardless, you're just full of hot air, Tomo. I'm not in 'love' with Sakaki, or Kaorin, or that one cute waiter guy who's been serving us tonight, so you can just drop the insinuations like I've already told you for who knows how many times," Kagura said.

"Well, have it your way. But let me just tell you that you can deny it all you want. I can still see the glint in your eye..." Tomo taunted.

"You and your glints..." Kagura muttered.

After quieting down for a short while, Tomo suddenly had a brainstorm. "Hey, I have an idea! Let's play a game," Tomo thought up.

"What? A game? What game?" Kagura asked.

"Only a game that'll help you clarify things for yourself, Kagura," Tomo explained.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Kagura asked arching an eyebrow.

"Play and you'll find out," Tomo cryptically smiled.

"This doesn't sound very promising, but what the hell. I'll play ball... So what's the game?" Kagura enquired.

"You'll see..." Tomo answered with a devious smile.

– O –

"This is pointless," Kaori said exasperated.

"No, no it's not. Can't you really think of any reason why Kagura'd hate you? Any specific incident, or whether you'd said anything that made her dislike you?" Yomi pushed.

"No, I already told you. I can't think of any real reasons. She just hates me, that's all. I can't really just jump into her head and tell you why she feels that way," Kaori said.

"Okay, okay... let's try something different then. Instead of trying to figure out Kagura, let's instead try to figure out why is it that _you_ don't get along with Kagura," Yomi said as she paced in the small restroom space.

"I don't really know," Kaori bluntly answered.

"Surely _you_ must have an idea about _your _own thoughts? After all you can't just not like somebody without reason," Yomi said, feeling like she was wading in a swamp where progress was painfully slow and never-ending.

"What do you want me to say? Bad chemistry? Look, it's not as if me and Kagura were like close friends even back then all those years ago. I really don't know her that well at all," Kaori shrugged.

"All right, all right... Let's... let's think this through logically. Just take a moment, dissect what you think about her into pieces, and go from there," Yomi stated.

Kaori sighed deeply, but decided to humour Yomi, "Okay, Yomi... If you insist. What do I think of Kagura... well, she's brash... very brash in fact. Maybe not as openly irritating as Tomo..."

"That's for sure," Yomi mumbled.

"She loves to show off... and to brag with her accomplishments. She's very competitive, and apparently loves to be in the spotlight a lot... She's pushy... always pushing herself into other people's personal space... whether they want her to or not. And rarely ever does she take no for an answer in my experience... Like she's always challenging Sakaki-san to do things that she may not really want to do..."

"Oh, but I don't really mind," Sakaki quickly defended.

"Yes you do. I can see you do. Or did you honestly want to race with her all those times today? At the park... and the temple?" Kaori asked.

"Well... ummm..." Sakaki faltered.

"See?" Kaori said nodding.

"But really, it was no big deal. It didn't bother me that much at all," Sakaki still said.

"But don't you see, that's just the whole thing. Kagura just likes to override everybody else's opinions as long as she just gets her way. And she doesn't even bother to stop and ask and see whether it would just be best to take a step back every once in a while. She... she has no subtlety, whatsoever. No sense of taking other people into account, and not just herself... It's just so selfish behaviour. She's just the type of person who goes forward, but never bothers to look behind her for any possible damage she may have inflicted. And it's just that kind of reckless and selfish behaviour that is just so infuriating!" Kaori charged, getting more impassioned.

"Ah, but Kagura really isn't that bad," Sakaki said. "She can be a little exuberant, yes, but she really does have her heart in the right place and I know that she cares deeply for all of us..."

"Except me, of course," Kaori bitterly added.

Sakaki didn't know what to say to that. She was absolutely positive that Kagura truly was a good and kind person inside and out, and who'd go out of her way to help other people... but that was just it. As much as Sakaki wanted to deny it, Kaori did unfortunately have a point. Kagura's behaviour toward Kaori had been just so completely un-Kagura like that Sakaki didn't know what it was all about, or what could Kaori have done to bring out this kind of outright hostility. And it was this that bothered Sakaki the most. She treasured Kagura as one of the most important people in her life, but over the short time she had come to know Kaori, the weaker girl had also shown how she could essentially become a very important person in her life. And Sakaki didn't want to loose this opportunity that was handed to her on a silver platter. Sakaki was certain that Kaori was truly a very decent person, and one that could offer her something unique none of her other friends could give.

But this whole situation was just so difficult. She didn't want to pit Kaori and Kagura against each other, and jeopardise either of their friendships, but if it came down to that, Sakaki didn't know what she should have or could have done to reach a compromise and not lose one or the other in the bargain. And then, of course, there was still that guilt. That terrible, awful, incessant feeling of guilt... the guilt of inadvertently having been the source why Kaori had ended up being hurt the way she had. _"__If only I hadn't invited her along... or maybe just looked after her better... maybe she would have been spared. Have I truly not learned anything about not ignoring other people__'__s needs..?__"_

Kaori waited for a while for Sakaki to make a rebuttal, but as one didn't seem to be forthcoming, she continued more generally, "Look, I appreciate both of your concern, but are me and Kagura ever going to get along? Are we ever going to be able to share the same space as the other? I'm sorry, but I just don't see that as being possible. So... maybe it's just best if I went away and continued my life where I left off, and leave you to enjoy yours'."

"Come on, Kaori. You don't need to cut yourself away from us just because of something like this. I mean, me and Sakaki are still your friends, and we don't want to just throw that away," Yomi said pleadingly.

"I appreciate what you're saying, Yomi, but let's face it... I'll never be part of your friends like Osaka, or Tomo, or Kagura are. No matter what you say, I'll always be nothing more but the outsider. Nothing more than just the other friend you occasionally bump into, but never bother to stay in contact with. I'm sorry, but I think it's best that I just left and went my own way," Kaori said.

"Kaori... I just hope you know what you're doing, and not jumping the gun here. Because you _are _my friend, and that's never going to change. Not to mention you really helped me keep my wits about me back in Tokyo U when many other new people I didn't know avoided me because they didn't want to be associated with Tomo. So I would really hate to see you go like this, and I'd really want you to reconsider. I promise in the end everything would turn out _très bien_," Yomi further attempted.

"Thanks, Yomi," Kaori said with a slight smile, "but I think my mind is made up. But I guess I'll see you around sometimes anyway." With that Kaori then turned to address a few words to Sakaki as well, but before she could utter a single syllable, she suddenly found herself at a loss for words upon seeing Sakaki's form, her head hanging low and her body trembling a bit. She looked a bit sick in fact. The sudden change actually rather alarmed Kaori as Sakaki had seemed just fine a few moments ago. "S-Sakaki-san? Are... Are you all right?" Kaori asked with concern.

"Kaori..." Sakaki choked, not lifting her head to face the smaller woman.

Starting to get more and more worried for the goddess, Kaori took a small, hesitant step towards her and extended her arm towards Sakaki, though not far enough to touch her, trying to peer up at Sakaki's face. "Sakaki-san? What is it? W-what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?" Kaori asked now deeply concerned due to her former idol's inexplicably strange behaviour. _"__Oh no, I hope it__'__s not food poisoning, or anything...__"_

"Kaori..." Sakaki choked again, and without warning, lifted both her arms and landed them on Kaori's shoulders, the sudden motion causing Kaori to flinch a bit in surprise.

After a small while of standing thus in silence, Sakaki finally lifted her face to meet Kaori's, and as so doing, causing a flood of terror to run through the stargirl's body. In all the time that she had known Sakaki, Kaori had never seen her as distraught as she looked now. Sakaki's eyes were now swimming in tears and her face was such a desolate epitome of hopelessness she had ever seen in her life, that Kaori didn't know at all what she was supposed to feel or do at the moment, her brain without warning being flooded with so many conflicting emotions of worry, fear and need to comfort.

"I'm... I'm s-s-so s-s-sorry... I'm sorry, K-Kaori..." Sakaki sobbed. "I s-shouldn't hav-ve d-d-dragged you to t-this thing like I d-did... It's all m-my fault! I just wasn't th-thinking..."

Kaori was utterly shocked. She didn't know what she should do here. It had already been terrible when Sakaki had ended up feeling somehow bad on her account before, but now Sakaki seemed to be so utterly devastated that it made Kaori's mind go completely loose and disjointed, her thoughts going wildly from one idea to another, and nothing made sense to her. She wanted to comfort Sakaki desperately, but she had no clue how to accomplish the task when having to face the pained expression of her former idol, her teary eyes and her utter sadness. "S-S-Sakaki-san... p-please. D-don't cry, okay? It's not y-your fault at all," Kaori tried vainly to console the distraught woman.

"Y-y-yes it is... I s-s-should have seen t-the trouble, and p-p-protected you, but I d-didn't do anything... a-a-and I dragged you i-into this whole m-mess in the f-f-first place. It's all my f-fault. I'm so sorry..." Sakaki continued her misery.

But if Sakaki was thinking that she was somehow making Kaori feel less bad by surrendering to her enveloping sense of guilt, the opposite was actually taking place as Kaori was starting to get desperate. When Sakaki was sad, Kaori usually found herself miserable. But when Sakaki was miserable, Kaori felt like dying. Even if she actively denied that Sakaki wasn't anything more to her other than a friend, it still hurt her immensely to see the tall woman so devastated. _"__W-what am I supposed to do?__"_she furiously thought as she tried to soothingly rub Sakaki's arm with her hand.

"Please don't leave Kaori!" Sakaki wailed. "I-it's all my fault! I should have taken care of you better and not allowed you to be hurt like this. Please... please forgive me! I'm sorry! J-just don't go! Forgive me, please!"

After that Sakaki removed her hands from Kaori's shoulders and covered her face as she wept into her palms. Kaori tried looking toward Yomi for assistance, but the bespectacled woman seemed to be just as shocked as she was, unable to do anything else other than just stare. Deciding that no help was likely to forthcome from that quarter, Kaori made the decision of biting the bullet and trying her utmost to make Sakaki feel better. No matter what was demanded of her.

"Sakaki-san. Please... please stop crying. It's... it's really not your fault at all. I just... lost my cool for a moment, that's all. Y-you have nothing to blame yourself for," Kaori said while resuming her soothing rubs.

"But... I..." Sakaki started, but Kaori quickly interrupted.

"No, no arguments, Sakaki-san. There's no reason for you to feel bad."

"But... you still feel like you need to leave us all behind. That... that you can't be our friend anymore," Sakaki sniffled.

"Oh... I... I... umm... m-maybe I was... that is... Uh..."

"I really wouldn't want you to feel like you had to leave, Kaori. Please. wouldn't you stay? Please?" Sakaki said, trying her best to compose herself to not sound as pathetic as she felt.

Kaori took a long look at Sakaki's sincerely pleading face and she could feel every ounce of defences and barriers she had so rigidly set up crumbling into dust. It just was always like this. Kaori just was completely unable to deliberately cause pain to Sakaki, or upset her in any slight way, which her walking out now would certainly bring about. And the look on Sakaki's face was just so child-like; so innocent and hopeful, that Kaori was starting to feel like crying herself for having made Sakaki feel this bad on her account. _"__Damn it! Why must I be this weak? How can Sakaki-san always somehow manage to do this to me? How can I possibly say no to her now? To that face?__"_

Kaori took a long sigh, and resigned to her fate of once more being a pawn to Sakaki's wishes, "All right. I'll... I'll stay."

"Y-you will?" Sakaki asked her face brightening up considerably as if she had just got news that a dear friend of her's was in fact not dead, but had only been in a deep sleep.

"Yes, I will... Just... please stop crying! You're just making me cry," Kaori said, already feeling tears welling up in her eyes.

Sakaki took Kaori's promise more happily than neither Kaori nor Yomi expected as she immediately stepped forward and scooped Kaori into a warm hug, "T-thank you. Thank you so very much, Kaori. And I promise, everything will be all right. It'll all work out. I promise."

"Yeah... all right," Kaori lowly said, not entirely convinced of that, but for the time being she just decided to go with the flow and see where all of this would lead. _"__Let__'__s just hope I don__'__t have to regret this decision... that it really will be all right... Because I just know that I can__'__t take much more of this,__"_Kaori thought while returning Sakaki's comforting hug and allowing a few of those rampant tears to drop from her eyes, all the while feeling like she was headlong walking into a minefield with no map to tell her how to get out again.

– O –

_At 6.37 pm, Harada Risa accidentally hits her head on her closet shelve._

_At that very same moment, her twin sister Harada Riku curses the sudden headache she has developed seemingly out of nowhere._

_

* * *

Like I said, I very much liked writing this chapter. Character thoughts are just so much fun to write and this offered me a lot of opportunities to do that. I also hope that Kagura wasn__'__t as bitchy in this chapter as in the previous ones. Just for the record, she__'__s one of my favourite Azu-characters, even above Sakaki herself, so certainly it__'__s not my intention to bash her in any way should it have seemed like so when looking at her past behaviour. She just has convictions she feels she needs to act on rather than hide, which would go so much past her personal ethics._


	11. The Hurt of the Righteous

_Okay, I haven__'__t been updating for a while, the reason being that I just haven__'__t been writing. So, that__'__s my excuse. Anyway, this is essentially the first part of the big finish to the Grand Day Out. Originally this was supposed to include the entire rest of the day, but in an effort to keep the chapters at a respectable length in relation to each other (that is under 10,000 words), I cut out the second part of this chapter (which is largely written) and I__'__ll be posting it maybe around a week from now. So this is essentially the "dramatic" half and I will just apologise if some of the stuff that happens here is a bit on the upsetting side. But do know it wasn__'__t an easy one to write, and one I__'__ve been agonising over how to do properly for the longest time. Hopefully I succeeded._

_

* * *

At 6.39 pm, a tea kettle whistles in the house of the 95-year-old Minase Shiori._

– O –

Sakaki had rarely felt this kind of emotional turmoil in her life. The closest similarities she could compare it to had most likely been centered in her feelings of loneliness when growing up, her angst when it came to cute things – animals most usually – being hurt in one way or another, and in perhaps seeing an emotional movie every once in a while. But this was the first time she had really felt this kind of despair towards another human being. Even Chiyo had never brought out such feelings in her before – past seeing her leave off to America all those years ago that didn't compare at all to this situation – that Kaori's desolate words and actions had just inspired, which was most likely due to Sakaki never having felt the necessity to get worked up over her friends.

It always seemed like one of those things that Sakaki's close friends never had those kinds of problems. Yomi and Tomo fought a lot, but they had been doing it since the very first day Sakaki got to know them, so it never felt like a big deal, and none of her other friends ever seemed to have a cloud of rain hovering on top of them for too long. When ever there was something that was amiss, they always somehow managed to get past it so that it never had a chance to develop into anything serious, a trait that Sakaki was sometimes a bit envious of. Their outlook on life was always so much more positive than it was negative, and they always seemed to manage to find the good things in life to get them out of any fix that might have caused ill feelings to come out. But Kaori was different than the others. Different in a way that was problematic to Sakaki. It was something that had been plaguing Sakaki for the whole day, something that was inherently missing from her other friends and, now looking back in hindsight, something that had seemed to have been there all along behind those plain, brown orbs. It was _sadness_. Just sadness – hiding away from sight, yet most certainly there, just below the surface.

It was quite clear that Kaori didn't seem to want to talk about it, nor did she seem to want to show it to anybody either, but Sakaki could still instinctively tell it was there. It had most likely been the cause why Sakaki had had such a strong urge to look after the petite woman – not only as somebody responsible for dragging her along on their group outing, but also as a friend. Sakaki just hadn't properly realised this before, and now suddenly having it all open up in front of her so violently and so harrowingly, the circumstances had caused a whole boatload of misery envelop Sakaki as well. She just never had had to face such sadness or melancholy from anybody in her entire life before, so to come face to face with it was not an easy thing to see. And more than anything Sakaki couldn't escape from the mix of guilt and sadness, causing her entire being to be hurt as if the slights against Kaori had been personal injustices on her very own person.

In a funny little analogy, Kaori almost came across like a hurt cat. She had always been neurotic and easily flustered, like somebody wanting to be close to people, but at the same time maybe a little afraid to be intimate at the same time... at least so Sakaki's slight recollections seemed to tell her. Certainly Kaori had a temper, as she had displayed before at the dinner table, so she wasn't exactly completely defenseless, but in an uncanny contradiction, she also seemed to have an air of such helplessness and vulnerability about her that made her a lot more endearing... again like a cat. It was such a strange mix of opposites Sakaki was faced with that she didn't really know to what she should cling on to. It just seemed to her that Kaori was so much more complex than her other friends who in comparison came across almost straightforward in the way they approached life. Yomi with her sober intelligence and air of confidence that rarely seemed to crack. Tomo and Kagura in their almost reckless resolve to enjoy life. Chiyo – sweet Chiyo – in her utter optimism and naivety. And Osaka... well, okay, maybe Osaka was an exception of being a bit _too_ complex for even the most brilliant scientists to fathom. But still none of them brought out such a curious package of conflicting impressions and feelings... and so openly displayed them within such a short span of time, than Kaori's tempestuous personality seemed to toss and turn out at every moment.

It was just this utterly unique complexity of contradictions upon contradictions, which seemed to contradict yet other contradictions, that intrigued Sakaki so much, and made her want to know how Kaori actually worked on the inside and at the same time figure out if she could somehow tap into this mysterious source of melancholy at the same time and ease it away. And just as the utter sense of misery that had been brought about on her by Kaori's resigned attitude, so was it almost equally much a new experience of relief and joy for Sakaki to hear how Kaori agreed to stay after all. It was such an absolute sense of gratitude that suddenly swept all over her body, of a frightening new lightness taking over her feelings, that was perhaps even more unexpected, and indeed, wondrous to behold. If only Sakaki could feel such moments of relief and warmth more often, then she most likely could also have an even better life than she already had... though she really could live without those bad feelings that preceded the good ones.

Disengaging herself from Kaori, Sakaki allowed this feeling of relief to linger on her consciousness for a moment longer, just to savour it for a bit more, before she relaxed again with a deep sigh, and opening her eyes, asked, "Kaori? You feel alright now?"

Kaori was still slightly shaken up by Sakaki's uncharacteristic outburst, but had enough of a grip to say a simplistic, "Yeah... I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Yes, don't worry, Sakaki-san. I'm... just fine," Kaori said as she nodded her head, trying to sound convincing even if she was feeling anything but.

To that, Sakaki offered a warm smile and wiped away a few of her remaining tears, while hoping that her eyes didn't look as puffy as she felt them to be. Kaori, on the other hand, was also trying to stable herself from the turbulent onslaught of the emotional Sakaki, feeling as if every bit of energy had been suddenly drained out of her body, making her a spent hulk trying to somehow generate enough strength to keep her intellectual faculties still working at a sufficient enough rate. Certainly Sakaki seemed to be dead set on making Kaori her good friend and it seemed that a determined Sakaki was just as bit entrenched in her convictions as the sporty Kagura was in disliking her. In short, Kaori surmised that there was little in the way for her to even attempt to try and struggle against Sakaki's adamant resolutions, and it was just best to comply and hope that everything ran forward with as little trouble as possible. Sakaki wanted to be a friend, and a friend she would also become for better or for worse. There was no stopping that, it seemed.

In the mean time, Yomi had silently observed everything that had taken place and she had to admit that Sakaki was skillful. Even if Sakaki probably wasn't aware at all of the huge influence she wielded over Kaori, at the same time it almost seemed as if Sakaki was just as well aware what buttons she needed to push in order to get the desired result out of the neurotic woman. In this instance it had taken only a couple of minutes for Kaori to completely crumble to pieces and her former resolve had vanished like snow in spring. Yomi wasn't entirely sure whether she should feel sorry for Kaori, but in her mind she supposed the end justified the means, and if this was the means to bring these two closer together – a prospect Yomi's more devious side was getting more and more giddy about seeing happening – then this was a perfectly acceptable solution.

The only problems Yomi could see standing in the way of that happening were ironically Kaori and Sakaki themselves. Kaori had made it pretty clear that she did not want a relationship with Sakaki, and her personality was such that once something like that wiggled in her mind, her insecurities and neuroticism would take over in making everything all that little bit more difficult. Surely Yomi had seen _that _happening before and Kaori was now in exactly that position where she would use any sort of intellectual objection against to be perceived as fact to convince herself of the folly of her own feelings, like an illusion just waiting to be shattered by cold logic. On the other hand, what was working for Yomi in this instance was Sakaki, who would make Kaori jumps through hoops – literally – if she just asked it. The problem was that, despite Sakaki being a rather gullible person in her blind trust in people, she was also oblivious as hell and never even knew she was acting as if she was adroitly trying to manipulate Kaori in any way.

In a way Sakaki could just say anything, no matter how silly, and her generally unflinching expression would make even a police enquirer believe that. She was just such a trusting person and honest to a fault that she never opened her mind to the possibility that her frank honesty might also work in ways that she was wholly unaware of. In the case of Kaori, Yomi was certain that Sakaki honestly wanted to make a friend out of Kaori, but didn't have the slightest idea what effect she was having. So if anything were to happen, Yomi concluded that her best bet would be to go via Sakaki than Kaori. All that was really needed was just a little nudge here and a little push there.

"So... are we all good, then?" Yomi stepped up to break the "lovey dovey" moment as she saw it.

Kaori turned to Yomi as she weakly stated, "Yeah... I guess. Seems like you two are dead set on wanting me to stay, so... I suppose there's not a lot I can say about that."

"Oh, cheer up Kaori. It's like Sakaki said. Everything's going to be just fine. You just need to readjust your attitude. But you can be sure that me, and Sakaki here, will be right there every step of the way," Yomi said cheerfully... almost too cheerfully in Kaori's mind.

"_What the heck is up with Yomi now... being all that happy all of a sudden? That'__s even more than what I__'__ve ever seen her as being before. She seems almost... pleased with herself... Wait... She__'__s still not trying to... oh, no, she__'__s not... is she...?" _Kaori thought as Yomi's motivations suddenly came back full force. "Yomi!!"

"Hey, if everything's wrapped up over at our end, then what say we go back to the dinner table and see about reconciling you with Kagura?" Yomi quickly steered the conversation to safer waters.

"Yes," Sakaki said in quiet determination as she clenched her fist, though her puffy eyes took some of the effect away.

Kaori rolled her eyes and said nothing. _"I have such great friends..." _she thought.

– O –

"C-cup!" Tomo shouted proudly, causing Kagura to just give a long stare. "Hahaa! I win again!" Tomo lauded as Kagura didn't say anything.

"Tell me again, how is this supposed to help clarify _anything_ to me?" Kagura asked dumbfounded, trying to understand what exactly was Tomo's whole point here.

"Duh! It's to help you get a clearer idea of the issues involved here," Tomo said as if talking to a toddler not comprehending the beauty of the game.

"And how is guessing Osaka's IQ, Yomi's fat percentage, or Kaorin's cup size supposed to help me in figuring out anything?! I still don't understand!" Kagura loudly asked, not really feeling up to playing the idiot to Tomo's supposed genius in a game that apparently had rules that only Tomo was aware of... if there _were _any rules to begin with, that is.

Tomo simply shook her head as if in pity for her friend's lack of mental capacity, "Oh, Kagura Kagura, if you have to ask, how are you ever going to learn anything?"

Kagura so wanted to blast Tomo's reasoning back with some other, more sensible retort, but to her dismay found herself not being able to find anything of the like that would be of any use in this situation, in which case she found it more effective to just facepalm herself and be quiet.

"Ah would have thought Kaorin's breasts would have been more like on the better side of B," Osaka chimed in.

"B? No way are we moving in the B range here! It's definitely at least C average. I have an eye for these kinds of things after all," Tomo stated in as proud a tone as the event demanded.

As luck would have it, it was at that moment that Yomi and Sakaki, with Kaori in tow, re-entered the room. Kagura was quick to catch a glare in the direction of the offending woman's unexpected return, which was reciprocated by Kaori with an equally cold glare. But before things could get awkwardly mean between the two, Tomo was quick to jump in between to move things along in her own list of priorities.

"It is C, isn't it?!" she asked excitedly from Kaori.

"Huh?" Kaori asked, her attention snapping toward the hyper woman.

"Your cup size. It's C isn't it?" Tomo eagerly asked again while staring down at Kaori's chest like a hungry wolf.

"M-My cup size?" Kaori immediately blushed brick red as she instinctively moved her arms over her breasts in protection from being somehow raped by the eyes of Tomo while finding any words suddenly being caught up in her throat.

"Ha! I knew it! Told you I was right. I mean, it is kinda funny how Kaorin's not really that tall or super hot or anything, but she's got quite the nice rack there. Real supple and erect. My breasts are pretty nice too, but I'm all grown up about it and I'll freely admit defeat in front of Kaorin's, even though she doesn't stand a chance when surrounded by Kagura's and Sakaki's, or Yomi's fatty ones..." Tomo gushed about one of her favourite subjects before a flustered Kaori finally found her voice again and interrupted Tomo.

"Wh-What are you doing talking about my breasts!?" she yelled.

"Oh? We were just playing a game," Tomo said non-plussed.

"Game? What kind of a game?" Kaori pushed, not understanding what game could possibly encompass her private areas in any way.

"Idiot," Tomo said soberly.

It took a moment for Kaori to chew that over before realisation hit, "Oooooh... _that _game."

"_That _game?" Kagura asked, for a second forgetting any hostility towards the short-crop haired girl.

"Yeah, it's where Tomo basically invents the rules as she goes along and usually wins because nobody can ever really figure them out. I ended up playing that a lot with her during booze fests back in Todai. It's actually a whole lot of fun when you're drunk enough to not care at all anymore. Then you might even wind up winning Tomo and making her the idiot..." Kaori explained.

"Funny, though... when we did those back then, how come your cup size hasn't come up before now?" Tomo wondered.

"Maybe it did, but I can't remember a lot of those games... I probably wasted too many braincells during those nights than I care to admit," Kaori said as she started to unwind again.

"So what is it? B? C? What?" Tomo excitedly continued.

"None of your business!!!" Kaori bit out.

Before things went any more toward unwanted directions, Yomi quickly jumped in to take the conversation to a more proper area, "Okay, so me and Sakaki had a little talk with Kaori here, and we happily managed to convince her to stay..."

"Whoopie..." Kagura unenthused.

"..._And_," Yomi continued more forcibly, "we also agreed that we'd find a way for you two to get along at least somehow. Now we don't really know how all of this even got started, but it's quite obvious that both of you need to talk things out. First off, Kagura. I don't know to what extent you were responsible for making Kaori feel like this, but I don't think she would have gone off like that without some kind of stimulation. So I think it would at least be a good start if you apologised to Kaori..."

"What? Me apologise to that? Oh, that's just rich," Kagura said scornfully.

"Kagura, this is for the benefit of both of you," Yomi said.

"Really? And I suppose she's completely blameless, then? Do I need to remind you that it _was _she who ruined the fun for everybody?" Kagura responded.

"Kagura, please..." Sakaki cautiously began, but was interrupted by Kagura.

"And you too, Sakaki? I would have thought that you of all people would be on my side."

"Uh... I'm... I am... that is... but if you only would just... a-apol..." Sakaki meekly stuttered, not being used to having somebody glower at her like that.

"Great... So this is the way it's going to be, huh? You'll all just happily take the side of that... that... freeloading, selfish attention seeker over your old and trusted friend? Can't you see? This is exactly what I was fearing she would do! She's dividing us all! She's turning everybody against each other! First you all against me, and then I just know, little by little, she'll turn the rest of you against each other and destroy our team! Can't you see that?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaori irrately asked.

"Yeah, what're you going on about Kagura? You been popping some of Osaka's pills or something?" Tomo flippantly asked.

"I can't believe you guys are being so blind as to what Kaorin's trying to do. You know that innocent act of yours may fool the others, but you're not fooling me," Kagura said accusingly. "I've had a bad vibe about you ever since high school and even back then you always acted suspiciously. The way you always hung around the background, like some stalker or something. Or how you always had those weird bipolar moodswings. Frankly I don't trust you, Kaorin. You're such a... a user! Even here, you just sneakily wiggled your sorry way into what was supposed to be _our _free time. _Our! _Mine, Tomo's, Osaka's, Yomi's and Sakaki's! This was _our _get together, not yours! You've always been an outsider in our group and you're still just an outsider! You have no right to be here!" Kagura loaded.

"Kagura..." Yomi said warningly.

"No! Yomi! You of all people should see what I'm talking about. You're more observant and intelligent than any of the rest of us," Kagura said back.

"Kagura, please... you don't know what you're talking about," Yomi said.

"Oh, I don't?" Kagura said bitingly.

"Kagura! You know you are very dear to all of us and we all know that you're a good person. We know that you're honest and friendly, and who cares a lot for her friends. You're not the kind to try and cause harm to anybody else... physically or emotionally... whether you know them well or not. But Kaori's our friend too. And I think I know her well enough to say that she is definitely anything _but_ a 'user' or that she has some deep, dark plan to drive us all apart. Really, Kagura. Kaori's a very nice person and I can't understand what you'd have so much against her," Yomi said in conclusion.

"You can't?" Kagura sighed.

"No, so what is it? Why do you hate her so?" Yomi asked weightily.

Kagura remained silent for a few seconds before answering, mulling over how to phrase her answer, "I know how I feel. And I know I don't feel this way towards Kaorin with no reason at all. I can't tell you any more specifically than that, but I know she's bad news, and I know it in my gut that she's up to something, or hiding something. I've had this feeling ever since Sakaki told me that Kaorin'd be joining us and it's only got more and more powerful over the day. I just don't trust her. I've never trusted her. It's as if what you see of her is not all... that she's hiding some big secret and I don't like it one bit."

"I'm not hiding anything..." Kaori quietly said while giving Yomi a worried glance.

"Really? That really so, Kaorin? You don't have some kind of a devious plan hatching up there in your head? Perhaps something involving... I don't know... Sakaki?" Kagura asked.

"What?" This gave Kaori a bit of a silent scare. _"She... Does Kagura know... Oh my god, I hope not..." _she thought in fright. _"If Kagura knows, then I'__m done for..."_

"Hit a spot there, didn't I? I'm right, aren't I? You _are_ planning something. That's why you've been trying to spend so much time with Sakaki, right?" Kagura interrogated.

"I told you already I'm not hiding or planning anything," Kaori said.

"Come on, spill it. I know you're up to something, and I want to know what it is," Kagura persisted. "Or do I have to get more forceful with you?"

Seeing Kaori was really starting to suffer from Kagura's hunches, Yomi quickly interrupted the interrogation, "Kagura, stop it!"

Ignoring the glare Kagura's sent in her direction for stepping in between the questioning, Yomi immediately continued, "Kagura, I know you tend to get passionate about the things you really believe in, but your accusations toward Kaori are really getting out of line. Now I know Kaori. I went to the same university with her and I've spent a lot of time with her because of it. And I can tell for a fact that she's nothing what you say she is like. Seriously, I just don't get why you hate her so. She's a perfectly nice person and a sensitive one at that. And she's definitely no freeloader, either. Did you know she actually offered to pay her portions of this meal just because she felt like an extra in this shindig? I had to practically twist her arm to let me pay for it all. And even then she skimmed on the food to bring costs down, even if she could have well ordered that salmon on her own, for instance. If that's the behaviour of a selfish freeloader, then I must have my terms seriously mixed up.

"I'm just... I'm just seriously getting fed up here! This was supposed to be a fun gathering of old friends when we started out. Just to finally be able to hang out like we used to. And now the whole thing's just ruined! And I don't even know what the hell for! Kaori didn't come here to be a pain or to... somehow ruin everything like you seem to think, Kagura. I know that for a fact. And if anybody here is trying to ruin anything, it's you! You just had to knife Kaori every moment you got, and don't think I haven't seen you doing that. So if you want to blame anybody, then just look in the mirror! Because I've really had enough of this shit!"

After that Yomi quieted down, panting hard from her sudden outburst. It was enough for everybody else to quiet down too, fearful of saying anything. Even Tomo found herself at a loss for words, never having seen Yomi quite this pissed off to anybody else than her before. On her part, Kagura looked at Yomi with wide eyes, completely bewildered with Yomi's words. She had never heard any of her friends go off on her like that, and she really didn't know what she was supposed to do or say. It was just such an alien atmosphere that enveloped her that her usual sense of resolute action just left her completely. Unable to look any more toward Yomi, she quietly turned her face toward the table and stared down at the leftovers on her plate, her entire being obviously shaken beyond what she had ever been.

"_Was it really... H-have I really been the one... Has it really been me who'__s ruined everything...?" _she shakily thought to herself as Yomi's words seeped ever deeper into her brain.

Sakaki and Osaka were also appropriately shocked, as was Kaori, who's insides were currently going through so many conflicting feelings at once; guilt, happiness, fear, gratitude, sadness... it was really a miracle that she was able to still keep some sort of a rational thought in her mind. In a way she wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. Was this all her fault? Or was she just an innocent bystander caught in a web of something she didn't have any control over? Or should she feel elation and gratitude that Yomi came up and defended her the way she did? Or should she feel ashamed for the part she had played that day? She just didn't know which of these feelings she was supposed to believe in. And as the silence dragged on, not a single thing was prominently making itself come trumps over the others.

After the silence had gone on for around a minute and a half, Kagura somberly rose from her seat and, with her head held down, started heading for the door.

Sakaki was quickly there to intercept her, "Kagura, wait. Where are you going?"

Kagura stopped and, not removing her gaze from the floor, quietly murmured, "I'm sorry..." and then continued on her way, straight out the doors.

"Kagura! Kagura! Wait!" Sakaki still tried calling after her friend, but Yomi just placed her hand on Sakaki's shoulder and murmured, "Let her go."

"But..." Sakaki quietly protested, only to be interrupted by Yomi again.

"I think right now it's just best if we let her go. We'll talk to her later on when we're all calmed down sufficiently. I don't think we can really accomplish anything by talking to her right now."

Sakaki looked at Yomi hesitantly, debating whether she should go after Kagura, but finally acquiesced to Yomi's wish with a deep sigh.

With Sakaki taken care of, Yomi then turned her attention to the other person caught in the middle of the maelstrom, "Kaori? You okay?"

Kaori snapped her head toward Yomi, her criss crossing thoughts coming to a screaming halt when being addressed. "I... I'm... fine... I guess. In spite of all," Kaori quietly said.

"You know, it wasn't your fault. Kagura had no right to talk to you like that. Just know you're not to blame," Yomi said wearily.

"Yeah... I guess. Though maybe it would have been... better if you had just let me leave before... or maybe if I hadn't come along in the first place..." Kaori said.

"Please don't think like that," Sakaki suddenly said, much to everybody's amazement. "Please... don't blame yourself. It... it wasn't your fault. Just like Yomi said."

Kaori simply directed her gaze back to the floor, which prompted Sakaki to quietly approach the shorter woman. As she got to her, Sakaki placed her hand over Kaori's shoulder, prompting the other woman to look up at the towering countenance of Sakaki. "It _wasn__'__t _your fault,"Sakaki adamantly said, punctuating her words with a slight squeeze of her hand, causing a small surge of electricity to run through Kaori's body.

Kaori looked at Sakaki's calm face for a few moments, a slight tinge spreading on her cheeks, as Sakaki's icy blue eyes seemed to literally drill into her own brown ones. It was frankly a strange feeling how the thumping mix of colliding emotions seemed to calm down as the confident look of Sakaki's was seeping into her very core, settling the waves and bringing strength to her very being to quell those raging winds. Kaori had never, ever experienced anything quite like this before and it was making her insides turn almost completely upside down, yet at the same time the unbelievable sense of calm took the edge off from any bad feelings. Kaori felt like she could just continue on looking into those eyes... those azure eyes of tranquillity, yet undeniable strength that made Kaori's very own confidence bolster up to unknown heights... like waves in an ocean that were at the same time powerful yet unbelievably beautiful. Just staring into them forever and ever and ever...

"You know what this scene needs? A dirty joke!" Tomo interposed, finally managing to find her vocal chords, and snapping Sakaki and Kaori out of what ever little world they had been in in embarrassment.

But before Tomo had a chance to sound one syllable from her mouth, Yomi was quick to cut her off, "Tomo, if you say a word, I'm making _you _pay for all the food!"

"What?" Tomo said surprised.

"You heard me," Yomi reiterated.

"But... but... you couldn't do that! You know I don't have any money!" Tomo complained.

"Do you want to test me?" Yomi asked.

"Well... how should I then be able to pay for any of this, huh?" Tomo challenged.

"I guess by washing dishes... for the next ten years or so," Yomi said.

Tomo was about to say something else, to call Yomi's bluff, but considering her options that Yomi might actually mean what she said, and having enough common sense to figure out that she didn't really want to take the chance to end up spending the next decade washing dishes, she decided to not tell the joke.

Seeing as there was still a bit of food left, the remaining women decided to try and salvage the small bit that was still left of this dinner and sat down once more. But it was painfully clear to all that any actual enjoyment had been irrevocably destroyed, and in its place was but the reluctance of mechanical actions.

– O –

_At 7.03 pm, the family of Kusanagi gather around the TV to watch re-runs of their favourite TV show Friends._

_

* * *

Phew, well that__'__s the first half. The second part will be considerably lighter in tone, but the whole issue with Kagura was a hard one to write. I didn__'__t want to make her seem like some evil incarnate or anything, and wanted to highlight her reasons for being like this and saying these things, but in the end it was also something that I had to do in order to take the story in a direction I felt it needed to go. Be assured, though, Kagura will not be staying like that for the whole story and now that she__'__s reached an impasse, she__'__ll need to seriously start thinking of her own behaviour. So that__'__s something she__'__s got to work on._

_Anywhoo, the next chapter is almost completely written, so it__'__ll be appearing after a slight break. Until then, too-do-loo!_


	12. I'm Gonna Dance For You

_Yes! Finally the whole Grand Day Out thing is done. Funny how this was at best originally supposed to only consist of three chapters, and now it__'__s stretched out to a whole eight chapters. Well, after the drama of the last chapter, this is a lot more lighter in tone, with a lot of fun stuff taking place here that you__'__ve probably rarely ever read about in the Azu fandom (or better yet with the characters involved in them). So, without further ado, do enjoy the wrapping up of this particular __"__arc__"__._

_

* * *

At 7.15 pm, a flight captain steps out of the airport terminal, feeling happy about going home after having been almost two months away._

_Three minute later a father tries to explain that there is no such thing as a boogieman under his daughter__'__s bed. Boy is he mistaken when he takes a peek himself._

– O –

What ever little was left of the meal, which indeed at this stage was not much, passed in general quietness. Everybody were more or less pre-occupied with their own thoughts to not pass much conversation, and everybody had pretty much lost their appetite... apart from Tomo who was gulping down the last bites still left on her plate – and Yomi's – with as healthy an appetite as before. But Kagura's departure had left the group feeling less than in the best of spirits. Regardless that Kagura had behaved in a way that was spiteful to a significant degree and certainly unfair to one of their members, nobody had wanted her to leave. After all she was still a friend from years back, so it wasn't with an ease of heart that the other women watched her leave.

Even Kaori was not feeling relieved or particularly joyful. She didn't really like Kagura, nor had she really ever gotten too well along with her, which was certainly not helped when Kagura once stuck a pencil at the back of her head – a slight incident for sure, and most clearly an accident, but one that had only created more disharmony between them. Or that one time at Chiyo's summer house where Kagura had kicked a beachball hard in Kaori's face, causing her to almost loose consciousness when it was combined with her already weakened state after the ride from hell that was the Yukarimobile. And coupled with the fact that Kagura wasn't seemingly all that interested in making Kaori her friend to begin with caused the two to not really find much of a similar note, and their relations remained cool and indifferent.

But neither did she really _hate_ Kagura to the same degree that Kagura obviously disliked her. In a way she supposed this had more to do with Kaori's view of "I won't bother you, so you don't bother me" that Kagura took exception towards. Of course Kagura apparently took things a bit more personally, and this had opened up a rift greater than Kaori would have liked, particularly when it came to the other people seated around the table now. And despite Kaori reasoning to herself that she would have had a perfectly legitimate right to hate Kagura currently, there was still that annoyingly lingering thought of her conscience telling her that _she herself_ was ultimately responsible for causing a break in the friendships of people who had shared one for over a decade, while Kaori herself had never really been a part of it. What right did Kaori have to be so presumptuous to think she could fit in with the others... or that she'd really be accepted.

However, at the same time, Kaori couldn't escape feeling at least slightly gratified as well, considering that both Sakaki and Yomi, in particular, had really stepped up to defend her... and against a friend older than she could ever imagine to be. Certainly she already had a bit of a friendship established with Yomi, though they didn't hang around that much outside of a few occasions here and there now that they were out of university, but that _Sakaki_, of all people, would have also cared enough to have called Kagura's behaviour to account. Kaori had to admire Sakaki's honourable behaviour for that, which was so much like what she expected Sakaki's character to be like, though she also quickly admonished herself for letting herself almost slip up again, for those thoughts could only lead to one direction, and that was a direction Kaori wanted to avoid as per her earlier resolutions regarding the raven-haired beauty. If she allowed Sakaki to start meaning more to her again than just a friend, it would only open up old wounds that had taken long enough to heal already. And that most certainly was a pain she did not want to revisit.

With the mood this low, and the dinner really going nowhere anymore, it was almost unanimously agreed to just skip desserts and the like (Tomo again being the exception to the rule in wanting her cheesecake), and the group decided to just leave the restaurant after Yomi had paid the rather hefty bill and declined Kaori's money once more that she had offered as some kind of compensation for how things had turned out that evening.

Walking out of the private room, the group headed towards the exit, but before that Kaori quietly called after Yomi's retreating back as wanting to say something to her in private. Yomi stopped and turned around a bit, asking, "Yeah, what is it?"

"I just wanted to... to say... to say thank you," Kaori meekly said with a little bow. "You know, for... defending me like you did. You didn't have to, but..."

"Yes, I did," Yomi interrupted adamantly. "Kagura may be a good friend too, but she really had no business talking to you like that. I just said what had to be said."

"But still, it... it really meant the world to me," Kaori said with a slight smile.

Yomi had to smile at Kaori's almost childlike attitude right there. Indeed, sometimes she could just seem so vulnerable that Yomi seriously had to wonder how she managed to cope on her own in the world. But, of course, Yomi knew better than to succumb to such a notion and instead flung her arm around Kaori's shoulders and started leading her toward the exit, "Nah, think nothing of it. I seriously don't know what Kagura's problem with you is, but you can rest assured that my friendship with you is secure. And I'll defend you in the future too, whenever you need it, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks again, Yomi," Kaori said quietly.

"You're still not feeling guilty, are you?" Yomi asked, and after receiving no answer, once more stopped Kaori in order to look deep in her eyes, "Don't. There is no reason for you to feel that way. I know that sometimes you end up over-thinking stuff too much, but I'm telling you right now, as your friend, that don't. Don't blame yourself for any of this, all right? It is not. Your. Fault. Capisce?"

Kaori stared at Yomi for a bit, and let out a sigh, "You're really set on trying to make me feel better, aren't you?"

"Exactomundo. So stop fretting around, and let's see a smile on that face."

"Smiling? I have to say I don't really feel like smiling..."

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to help out a bit," Yomi interrupted as she put two of her fingers on the corners of Kaori's mouth and wedged them up for a little grimace.

"Jowi..." Kaori let out, and let out a small smirch of a laugh that indeed brought out a genuine smile on her face. She just didn't know how she could stay serious with the stuff Yomi always pulled on her.

"There. Much better," Yomi smiled back.

"How is it that you always manage to make me feel so much better with so little effort?" Kaori asked bemused.

"Hours of practice..." Yomi drawled out with mock effort while rolling her eyes. "Now come on, the others are probably already wondering what happened to us," Yomi continued as the two finally got around to getting out of the "drama restaurant".

Stepping outside, the rest of the group indeed were already standing there waiting rather listlessly, not really knowing what would be the most proper mode of action to follow. To call it a night, which probably was in the minds of the majority of the participants, or to still go for a follow-up somewhere. The loss of Kagura was still hanging over everybody's memory, and it just seemed a little inconsiderate to continue without her, regardless of Kagura's prior actions, so the general reluctance was not unexpected.

However, the "majority" was certainly not Tomo Takino, and there was definitely nothing that was going to keep Tomo down for long. Therefore, in an effort to drag this stupid moodiness out of everybody, she came out with a perfect plan, "Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's _finally_ go have some real fun!"

"Real fun? Only you can think of still doing something 'fun' after a day like this," Yomi said slightly exasperated.

"Which is exactly why I'm here! Now I have a monster plan that'll cheer everybody up," Tomo said excitedly.

"Your ideas are never good for cheering anybody up, Tomo... but I suppose there's no harm in it, so let's hear it then," Yomi in resignation.

"Let's go to a bar!" Tomo said with glimmering eyes.

Yomi facepalmed. "How could I not see that one coming..."

"But seriously, hear me out. What best way to forget all the bad things bothering everybody than getting hammered?" Tomo asked with a 'duh' voice.

"That's your answer to everything, isn't it? Getting drunk. You know, this is exactly the reason why you never _have_ any money. You just rather spend whatever little you make as a convenience store cashier on boozing. And you know you'll never get anywhere if you don't care at all about these things. Do you really want to stay a cashier all your life?" Yomi said, now getting slightly ticked off again.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, my dear executive Blubber. I do care a great deal, and being a cashier is really pretty great," Tomo said smilingly.

"Really?" Yomi said somewhat doubtful.

"Uh huh..." Tomo said.

_[Memory Imprint]_

"_Good morning! I__'__m your sale__'__s person today! Tomo Takino!! So what have we got here today? Oh... ham... chicken... bacon... chocolate... chocolate and vanilla mousse... Oh, man! Do you really think that this one pitiful cucumber is going to make much of a difference in making you somehow seem a balanced eater? I don__'__t think so! Better get wider pants, is what I say, lardy! Hehe! Hahaha! Heheheheee... Ah, oh, man. Sometimes I__'__m just too funny... So... that__'__ll be __¥6182, please. Say do you by any chance tip?__"_

_[End Memory Imprint]_

"I've never enjoyed another job more. It's a real blast day in and day out," Tomo happily said.

"Yeah, right..." Yomi said while sadly shaking her head. But after a moment of standing thus, Yomi suddenly lifted her head and said, "You know what, Tomo? Actually, I think I'll do something that I usually wouldn't, and I'll go along with your drinking plan. God knows I need one."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Tomo pumped her fist. "What about the rest of you? Osaka! You're in, right?"

"Okey-dokey..." Osaka drawled out dreamily.

"And Kaorin, you're gonna come too right? I know you love to booze," Tomo continued.

Kaori thought for a moment, remembering that she _was _driving after all, but decided that she could just as well pick the car up the next day easily, "...Sure, what the hell. I think I could definitely use it..."

"Great! So that only leaves Sakaki. How about it? Care to wet your whistle?" Tomo said with a sly grin.

"Umm... well... Actually I'm not... too sure if that's... such a good idea..." Sakaki stammered.

"Oh, come on Sakaki. Everybody else is going. I mean what're you going to do then... just wimp out as usual and go home or something equally lame?" Tomo challenged.

"Well... no... but... I'm just... ummm... it's just that I don't..." Sakaki continued nervously.

"Sakaki, you really should live a little! It'll be fun. Trust me. So stop being such a wimp and come along," Tomo said.

"Tomo, if Sakaki-san doesn't want to go, then you shouldn't force her to," Kaori said slightly grouchy.

"Yeah, Kaori's right. If Sakaki would rather go home, then we can't order her to do stuff she doesn't want to," Yomi also said.

Tomo stood silent for a moment, but decided that it would be useless to start arguing about this... as it would just delay getting to the bar. "Okay then. Fine. If you really want to be a prude, then you go home and the rest of us will go have fun. See ya' later."

With that said, Tomo started off down the street in a slight huff, while the others briefly, and somewhat apologetically, said their see-you-laters to Sakaki as they also started after Tomo before the wildcat got too impatiently obnoxious and ended up doing something stupid.

As the others left, Sakaki was left standing in her place for a while longer, watching after at the departing backs of her friends, and while so doing, without warning again started feeling a slight sense of guilt. It wasn't that she really wanted to go drinking, but it felt to her almost as if she was once more letting down her friends. In normal circumstances she most likely wouldn't have ended up feeling like this, and indeed her past declinings of similar invitations had not resulted in her feeling bad about the decision, but after everything that had happened that day with Kaori and Kagura, it left Sakaki feeling as if she was again letting down her friends in some way... and Tomo indeed had seemed more disappointed than usual. Sakaki wasn't a drinker, and she rarely ever dabbled with alcohol, but the thought that for the second time today she was being a disappointment hit her hard. She was already turning around to start heading toward her home, but at the last minute her regrets got too severe for her to ignore and, glancing once more towards her disappearing friends, she made the decision to go against her habits this once and quickly jogged after the others.

"Wait!" she called out, making the others pause and look back to see Sakaki hurrying toward them.

"Sakaki?" Yomi asked confused.

"Did you forget something, Sakaki?" Osaka asked as Sakaki reached them.

"No... No, I didn't forget anything. I just... I... I changed my mind," Sakaki said.

"Changed your mind?" Tomo questioned.

"Mmm. I... I decided to... come with you after all," Sakaki stated a bit nervously.

"Really? You... You mean you want to... to come drinking with us?" Tomo asked bewildered. Sure Tomo had tried coaxing her to come too, but Sakaki had never said yes. This was so... unusual for Sakaki that Tomo didn't know quite how she was supposed to react.

"Mmm," Sakaki confirmed in her usual understated manner.

"Well... Well then... Well all right! Great! T'was about time you grew up there, Sakaki," Tomo said, regaining her energy levels. "So come on everybody. Our first target is right there," Tomo continued, pointing to a bar called The Golden Monkey off the adjoining street.

"M-monkey..." Sakaki blushed. "Is t-this place like... a-a-animal themed?"

"No... I don't think so, Sakaki," Yomi sweatdropped.

"Okay, come on you guys!" Tomo enthused, already running across the street.

Entering, Tomo immediately strode to the counter and ordered loudly, "Hey, sake's all round!"

Sakaki quickly walked to Tomo and said in a low voice, "Um... c-could I possibly get a glass of water?"

Tomo gave Sakaki a weird stare, and stated again to the bartender, "Yeah, five large glasses of sake!"

"B-but..." Sakaki vainly tried to say back, but thought that obviously objecting would be a fruitless effort when it came to Tomo. _"__I suppose I can drink one of these... sake things. How much harm can that possibly be...__"_

– O –

Over the ensuing hour, the remaining five women drank and drank and drank. Tomo, Kaori and Yomi were already what one could have considered as being veterans at it over having more experience than either Osaka or Sakaki. Osaka, however, was no slouch herself, and despite not as used to drinking as much, or as often, as the other three, was dealing well with it.

Sakaki, on the other hand, was a complete novice. All she had really ever drank over the course of her entire life was maybe a cider here and there, but she had never really properly got drunk before. It wasn't that she was an absolutist or anything of the like, but she had always been rather shy about alcohol and the effects it elicited in people from what she had seen and read about. Considering the horror stories she sometimes heard about alcohol abuse made her actually rather scared of the substance, and thus rarely, if ever, really even dared touch it.

But now she had really painted herself into a corner, for in the auspices of Tomo and the others she couldn't just say no. For starters, though, she did feel rather proud of herself for having been able to down the _entire_ glass of sake, and she actually still felt rather good too. Not too much like feeling about to pass out, or feeling dizzy, or wanting to destroy places as she supposed would happen. Sure the first taste felt a bit bitter, but even that soon started to mellow down. _"__M-maybe this alcohol stuff has no effect on me...__"_she thought.

It didn't take long, though, before another glass of sake suddenly was slammed in front of her, breaking her train of thought. "Fire in the hold!" Tomo hollered, having taken the liberty of refilling for Sakaki.

"Oh, m-maybe I shouldn't... or –" Sakaki started, but silenced herself rather hurriedly as her slight feelings of guilt still haunted her mind. _"__On the other hand, Tomo already bought the drink so I guess it__'__d be rude to not drink it...__"_

Thus, with a heavy sigh, she submitted again and began drinking her second glass. Thus it continued for a good hour or so, the drinks not ceasing to flow at any point. As per Tomo's master plan, the group of women were again starting to be in considerably better spirits as the shadow Kagura had brought on the party had started to evaporate over the advancing state of drunken mirth. And while the women certainly would have liked if Kagura could have partaken on their enjoyment as well, they acknowledged that there was nothing they could do about the situation now and decided to simply make the best of it.

After spending an hour in The Golden Monkey, Tomo suddenly jumped up, "Bar change!"

"You know of other bars near here? You been around here before?" Yomi asked.

"I asked the barkeep. He said there's a few around the area. There's The Lagoon, the Broadway, the Raspberry Heaven, which sounds like a good one, and then there was one other... So I think we're well covered here," Tomo enumerated.

"W-why... umh... do we have to... change bars?" Sakaki asked, who was now already feeling considerably more lightheaded than before after having downed four large glasses of sake.

"Duh! Of course we have to change bars," Tomo said. "I mean, that's the whole beauty about going out drinking. Getting in new sights, new atmospheres, new people, new everything. Only novices stay in the same bar the whole night."

"Oh..." was all Sakaki said.

"So, Kaorin? Which bar would you choose?" Tomo asked.

"Oh, well, which one is plotted on the best course from here?" Kaori asked.

"I'd guess it's the Lagoon... wanna try that first?" Tomo queried.

"Okay. That sounds good," Kaori confirmed and the group jumped up to leave for their next destination.

– O –

Arriving at The Lagoon, which was situated only a few streets from The Golden Monkey, the same rally continued essentially unaltered. The bar itself wasn't drastically different to the previous one, but the seats surrounding the island-like tables were made of considerably more comfortable leather, and the atmosphere was ever so slightly more polished than the cheaper looking setup of the Monkey.

Upon entering, and seating down around the table, Yomi said she was going to get some shots, a news that seemed to gain Tomo's and Kaori's approval.

"All right, Yomi," Tomo said. "Hey, Kaorin. Tequila dance."

"Okay," the other said, and then both began a little seated down dance routine. "Tequiiii-la. Tequiiii-la. Tequiiii-la. Three steps down!" the chanted and high fived.

"What was that?" Osaka asked, a bit puzzled.

"The tequila dance!" Tomo said boisterously.

"Oh... it looked kinda fun," Osaka said dreamily.

"Oh the fun's only just started," Tomo said with a wink.

As if on cue, Yomi returned with a tray of five shot glasses of tequila, salt and slices of lime.

"Here we go..." she said as she distributed the shots.

"Oh, you two know how to do this, right?" Tomo asked.

Osaka gave a nod, but Sakaki looked a little lost, "I'm... umm... afraid... I d-don't really know."

"Oh, Sakaki-san, it's simple," Kaori explained. "First lick the back of your hand like so. Then pour some salt on it. And then you lick the salt, down the drink, and suck on the lime. That's it. You got it?"

"Mmm... Sounds simple..." Sakaki drawled with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Okay, so everybody get ready then," Yomi announced. With everybody having the salt on the backside of their hand, Yomi counted. "Okay then. On three. One. Two. Three! Salut!" after which they all went through the proper procedure. It took Sakaki two gulps to get all the tequila down, but she to her surprise found the whole thing quite fun actually. _"__Wow... I never knew drinking is this much fun.__"_

After having spent another 45 minutes or so of downing sake and various other special drinks, the group decided to yet again change bars, this time deciding to head toward the bar called Raspberry Heaven.

For Sakaki, this whole experience was really an eye-opener. She had never known during her entire life how enjoyable this whole drinking thing was. She had always been so afraid of it, but now she was wondering what ever for. Everybody seemed so cheerful for one thing. It seemed like all bad feelings had been completely washed away, as if everybody were absolved from their actions. Secondly the idea of seeing all of these new places and feeling these new sensations was just... so freeing. Sakaki was particularly struck how everything just seemed to pass off more smoothly and carefreely than in her normal life. As she took a step forward, it seemed as if she was walking in a dream. Here speed was relative and everything around her seemed to move in considerably a higher speed, yet at the same time in a languid style. Each of her steps seemed to be longer than before, and her body felt so light, as if she had been walking on the moon. It was simply a feeling she was enjoying so much that she didn't really want to see it end.

– O –

Raspberry Heaven was a bar that was considerably different than either of the other two they had been in. It was larger in size, and more akin to a club than the other two. There was even a dance floor and a DJ was turning round thumping pop and techno bits in a strange amalgam of tribalistic ritualism. Entering to this environment, Sakaki's eyes almost fell from their sockets. This place looked so wonderful that Sakaki had thought that such places only existed in movies.

"Wow..." she quietly awed.

"Yeah, this place rocks!" Tomo pumped her fist.

The group meandered their way to the counter, and got themselves another round of sake. While sitting down on bar stools, enjoying the drinks for a few minutes, Tomo's eyes suddenly went wide in excitement. "Look, Yomi! Billiard!"

After Yomi looked over to where Tomo was pointing, Tomo continued, "What say for a match?"

"Really? A match? Nah... I don't think I will," Yomi said dismissively.

"You won't? What? You afraid of losing to me, four-eyes, is that it? Afraid your tummy will get in the way of cue'ing?" Tomo teased.

Feeling volatile and easily challengeable, Yomi glared at Tomo, "You know, I've had just about enough of your idiotic banter for one day. I'm so going to teach you a lesson right here, right now. So take your drink, and lets shoot some pool!"

"You're on! And you're so going down this time, too, 'cause I've gotten considerably better since last time," Tomo said as she jumped up from her bar stool and went off with Yomi to the billiard tables, leaving Kaori, Sakaki and Osaka alone at the counter.

Sakaki by this stage was already starting to be a bit wasted, though not to the extent that she would have been toppling tables... quite yet. But she most certainly wasn't sober either. Not that Sakaki was concerned one bit. She was feeling so good that it felt like she was on the verge of reaching a completely new philosophical level. It was at this moment in her life that she thought it time she should re-assert her new-found friendship with her astro... ummm... astro... no-lo-nologically influenced friend, and thus appropriately turned toward her quarry.

"Hey, Kaori..." she drawled, drawing Kaori's attention away from the two at the billiard tables and toward Sakaki. "Hey... hey, Kaori... You know what? You... You're a really... really, really great person. I mean... hey, listen... I mean, I really like you. You know. 'Cause, you're a... great person... and a wonderful friend. You know what I mean?"

"Why, Sakaki-san. You wouldn't happen to be a little tipsy... now would you?" Kaori said, a little hazy herself, but being considerably more experienced than Sakaki, still in fairly good grasp of her mental faculties.

"Mmmh... maybe... perhaps... ...Well... Yeah," she finished as if she was telling a deep, dark secret that nobody else would ever know.

"Yeah, I figured as much," Kaori smiled back, finding it a bit amusing actually to see Sakaki in a state in which she was not the tranquil and always composed goddess, but an actual person who behaved just like anybody else in a similar frame of mind. "I'm supposing you don't go out drinking too often, then?"

"Well... To be honest... this is actually my first time," Sakaki whispered.

"Heh... you could have fooled me," Kaori laughed.

"Oh, pshaw... you're just saying..." Sakaki said, playfully swatting Kaori's hand and blushing a bit.

"So... how do you like it?" Kaori asked.

"Like it... I... I... like it. I like it a _lot! _I feel real great, actually," Sakaki said boisterously.

"That's great... though you might want to reign it in a little..." Kaori hazarded.

"Nah! I'm feeling great. What... what could possibly happen that.... would go wrong here?" Sakaki said happily.

"You just wait until tomorrow morning..." Kaori murmured.

Without warning, Sakaki then suddenly landed both her hands on Kaori's shoulders as she leaned in closer to her face, "Hey, Kaori..."

"Y-Yeah...?" Kaori cautiously asked when suddenly finding Sakaki's face nearing hers.

"I... I just wanted to... to say one thing. That... That I'm really... really sorry."

"F-For what?"

"You know, for... for all the things that... happened to you today. I... As having invited you... I should have taken better c-care of you... you know."

"Umh... N-No, there's n-no reason to apologise, S-Sakaki-san. It's all p-perfectly fine."

"No! No... I should have taken care of you, Kaori-chan. 'Cause... I'm your friend. And... friends look after one another. Like. And I know... I don't know you the way I should... but you're still my friend... and I should have looked after you and not allowed you to be hurt and... and... and..." Sakaki paused for a bit to stare Kaori intently in the eyes and causing Kaori to blush significantly at the closeness. "And... Have I ever told you... you're actually pretty cute, Kaori-chan."

"C-C-Cute?" Kaori stammered, her face flaring up ever brighter from hearing Sakaki call her a friend, cute, and -chan. Not to mention Sakaki's face was only a few centimetres off from her's.

"Yeah... cute. Like... a cute thing... a cat or something... You're really cute... yeah..."

Kaori wasn't sure whether this was just the alcohol talking or what, but it did make her feelings run gamut all over the place, from anxiousness to horribly making the blood rush to her face in an unprecedented surge. Staring into Sakaki's steel blue eyes again was making her feel woozy – or at least woozier – and she was seriously wondering whether she was going to faint or not.

"S-Sakaki... I..." she choked out, but before she could go any further, the DJ then pumped up the next piece on the speakers that managed to draw Sakaki's attention away from Kaori.

"Music..." she whispered. "I'm going dancing!" she declared and jumped off the stool to head over to the dance floor, in the process leaving a very flustered Kaori sitting on her chair in mid-pose that seemed like she was partaking in some kind of a weird performance art piece. Reaching the dance floor, Sakaki immediately started doing her funky little dance moves to the sound of some trance beat, immersing herself so completely that she didn't even seem to remember anything normally embarrassing having even happened just now.

Osaka had at the same time been watching the developments of this little intimate moment with interest, as she was currently preoccupying the stool right next to Sakaki. Seeing Sakaki suddenly go dancing and leaving a clearly confused Kaori behind, frozen in a strange semi-embracing pose, Osaka decided to man the stool Sakaki just left unoccupied.

"Hey, Kaorin? You okay there?" she asked curiously.

"W-What just happened?" Kaori asked confuddled.

"Guess you just had what we like to call a sweet together moment with Sakaki alone," Osaka smiled back.

"– Oh..." Kaori absently said.

"D'you think you can handle it?"

"I'm... I'm not exactly sure..."

"Well, for what it's worth, I thought that scene was pretty cute," Osaka amicably smiled.

"Cute? Did... Did Sakaki-san just call me... 'cute'?"

"Mmhmm... I believe she did."

Glancing toward the dance floor, it was certainly not difficult to see Sakaki as she was currently enjoying herself to quite some extent as she was currently swaying her hips to the rhythm of the beat, while at the same time swinging her light, long-sleeved top over her head and going "WOOOHOOOO!!!"

"She wasn't kidding... She really _doesn__'__t_ go drinking that often, does she?" Kaori asked with wide eyes.

"Nope. In fact, I don't think I've ever actually seen her touch alcohol before," Osaka confirmed.

"Right..." Kaori sweatdropped.

After that a slight silence fell down on the two women, punctuated only by Sakaki's occasional yelps of fun from the dance floor, before Osaka again turned her attention toward Kaori and asked, "So, how's it going?"

"Huh?" Kaori snapped her attention to Osaka.

"Y'know... with you and Sakaki?" Osaka clarified.

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Kaori blushed.

"You know, it's not like I haven't seen what's going on. Whether you want to admit it or not, but Kagura did make a very valid point earlier. You and Sakaki _have _been seemingly rather cosy this past day. And don't think I haven't noticed the little 'moments' you've shared, like after Kagura left... or just now... or what was it exactly you two were doing so long on your own at the temple?" Osaka said suggestively.

"W-what are you talking about? It's... It's really nothing. S-Sakaki's just wanted to get to know me better as a friend, that's all," Kaori argued.

"Oh, a friend?" Osaka said in a disbelieving voice.

"Please, Ayumu, if you're starting to get all Yomi on me, you can just forget it right now," Kaori irately said.

"Hey, we're just looking after your best interests," Osaka said as she raised her hands in a defensive posture.

"My best interests? And what pray tell might those be?"

"If you love Sakaki, then you should do something about it. Otherwise you might end up feeling more sorry and hurt than if you didn't take any action," Osaka said.

"That is... that is so... preposterous. I do not love Sakaki. I've gone through this all with Yomi already enough times, so please don't you start."

"Are you really sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm very sure about that. And I'd appreciate it if you'd just drop the issue, okay Ayumu?"

"Well, I guess I can't really make you do anything against your will, but I'm just saying that denial may actually be more detrimental than accepting the facts," Osaka concluded.

"There are no _facts _to accept. It's simple logic. What I felt way back when was most likely nothing more than a delusional daydream that has no bearing on the realities of life... Like Sakaki would ever love me like that... no way, no how. And even if she through some flight of fancy would... hypothetically speaking, of course... we could never be together. Not here in Japan, anyway. So no matter how you look at it, there's nothing to be gained from this speculation to and fro," Kaori said exasperated.

"That's a pessimistic way to look at things, Kaorin. Y'know you could very well be walking past your own happiness. Is that really what you want?"

"I have astronomy. That's all I need... This world has no place for somebody such as myself, so I don't even bother anymore in finding a relationship to bring me 'happiness'."

"You really believe in that? I have to say, I feel sorry for you, Kaorin. You could be missing something truly great if you never gave it a shot," Osaka said as she lightly shook her head.

"Believe me, Ayumu. I'm perfectly content with the way things are. I've accepted the way this world works. I don't need a romantic relationship. I can get along just fine without one."

"Well, I suppose you know what's best for your life, but I'm just saying..."

With that both Osaka and Kaori fell silent again, but there was something that left Kaori a bit bothered. Something that actually didn't have anything to do with the conversation she just had with Osaka. No it was something else... something that felt a little off...

"Say, Ayumu... one thing..." Kaori started.

"Yeah?" Osaka asked with a little tilt of her head.

"I don't know if this is just me... or whether I'm just drunk enough to be imagining things, but... it's as if... there's something different about you, Ayumu."

"Oh? Different in what way?" Osaka asked curiously.

"I'm... I'm not sure... but it's... it's almost like... I don't know... what's the word... that you're actually sounding... sensible? Yeah, that's the word! Like you're not saying anything random and stuff," Kaori said.

"Oh?" Osaka asked again.

"Ah, no offence meant, of course," Kaori hastily added.

"None taken. That actually isn't the first time I've been told that," Osaka said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess I must be really drunk then!" Osaka cheerily laughed.

Kaori simply gave a long stare.

"Yeah, Daisuke-kun has also said that to me before," Osaka smilingly continued.

"Daisuke... -kun?" Kaori asked, feeling a bit lost again.

"My husband."

"Y-Your husband?! You're... You're married?" Kaori asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah," Osaka said with wide eyes, and showing the wedding ring on her finger. "Got married five years ago. You... didn't know, Kaorin?"

Kaori shook her head, finding it rather hard to believe that Osaka of all people had somehow managed to secure somebody that apparently accepted her eccentricities to the point of even wanting to marry her.

"I'm so sorry, Kaorin! I... I didn't mean to leave you out of the loop like this. I would have invited you to the wedding too, but... I guess... I just forgot," Osaka said with a goofy smile. "I really am sorry."

"Nah. Don't worry about it. You just caught me a bit off guard there," Kaori said with a dismissive handwave as she got over her initial shock. "So, what's he like?"

"Oh, he's just the sweetenest. He works as a supply manager at Ônishi, and even though the pay's not really great, we got a nice life made for ourselves. And he's just such a snuggly lil' teddy bear. We really adore each other. Like how he always wakes me up by whistlin' Dixie, that always gets me in a good mood. Or how we sometimes play around with the ouija board and talk to my grandparents. And then he always leaves these little mints on my pillow before we go to bed, so that I always have fresh breath... He's just so cute," Osaka said smiling lithely.

"That sounds nice," Kaori told Osaka, finding the whole description – regardless of the Osakaisms – to be really charming, though at the same time the thought that Kaori herself probably would never get to experience the same, soured her mood a bit.

"It is," Osaka mumbled with a slight blush, "I'm real lucky. I never stop telling myself that. It really is the greatest feel in the world... to be with somebody you love and feel like there's one there to who you're the most important thing in the world. It just... warms you up like a nice kotatsu... And ah' don't know how I could live without that feeling anymore... It's just such a normal part of my life now, and I really wouldn't give it up for the world... But, you'll find all that out when you get together with your true love," she happily concluded, suddenly realising to whom she was saying all of this stuff.

"Yeah..." Kaori said with a bittersweet smile, not feeling quite as confident as Osaka seemed to be. But Kaori had to admit that, despite what she had said that she was happy with the way things were, she couldn't lie to herself that, what Osaka had said, wasn't something she didn't want to have also. In fact, more than anything, the whole conversation had brought back feelings she had not experienced in many a year and which she had badly tried to shut out: the coldness of being alone. The feeling that there was always an empty spot in her heart that couldn't be filled with starcharts and astral anomalies and universal paradigms. The wish to have something more... something more tangible to justify her existence, but which for a person of her disposition was not allowed in the rigid society she lived in.

And frankly, the thought scared her. Was she really destined to end up being alone for the rest of her life... to never get to experience that _warmth_ Osaka so fondly spoke of? And when she finally breathed her last breath on this earth, would she go to her grave forgotten and abandoned? Not leaving behind anything else than maybe an obscure mention in some filing cabinet that she once existed? It was something Kaori had not thought of in a long, long time, and now that it was suddenly reintroduced to her, the emptiness of Kaori's life suddenly opened up to her in all its grim reality. And the worst part was that she didn't know if there was anything she could do to change that.

"Umm... Kaorin?" Osaka suddenly said hesitantly, momentarily breaking Kaori out of her bleak thoughts.

"Yeah, what is it?" Kaori asked.

"Well... I... have this kind of a... request... that I wonder if you'd maybe... accept. I've been thinking on asking this of you earlier... but I just haven't found the proper time or place..." Osaka fumbled for the right words.

"Sure you can ask... what do you want to request of me?" Kaori asked with a small smile, Osaka just seeming to be so amusing when she was so unsure about whatever she wanted.

"Well... this may sound a bit... odd... but considering how you... y'know... like women... like that, you know... so I was just wondering if... if you'd..." Osaka stammered, and after taking a deep breath, blurted out, "Would you kiss me?"

"...Eh?" was all Kaori could manage to say, her brain completely locking down from her spaced out friend's most unusual and unexpected request.

"Oh, it's not the way you think!" Osaka quickly said as she waved her hands in protest. "I mean only that... well... I've just never... you know... kissed... a woman before. And I've always wondered how that feels in comparison to guys. And I don't really want to ask the others, so I figured you'd probably be my best bet... since you're... y'know..."

"Now you sound a lot more like your usual self," Kaori answered with a total deadpan.

"Ehehehe... well..." Osaka said as she scratched the back of her head. "So... ummm... would you? I mean, you don't have to or anything. I'm just... curious is all."

Kaori regarded Osaka for a while, not really having expected the woman with the off-the-wall ideas to have ended up proposing something like _that_ exactly. But, considering that both _were_ in a bar, and both _were_ definitely drunk anyway... or at least Kaori hoped Osaka was drunk more than she actually let out, she made the shocking jump to deciding to oblige the usually spacey woman just for the heck of it. _"__Maybe it__'__ll even make me feel at least a little better toward my sorry life...__"_

"Okay," she said out loud, earning a surprised look from Osaka's direction.

"What? Y-you... you will?" she asked confuddled.

"Yeah, why not?" Kaori shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know..." Osaka muttered.

"You know, you_ are _the one who asked _me_. And it's not like it'll mean anything, right?" Kaori said bemused.

"Oh, yeah... I… I know..." Osaka said back nervously, now suddenly finding herself getting a little jittery that she now seemed to be just a few moments away from actually _kissing _Kaori... _Kaori_! A thought she indeed had entertained for a good while, but now having to face the ramifications of her request made her all anxious.

"So... you want to do it or…?" Kaori probingly asked.

"Y-yeah... Sure! O-okay. Great... umm... Thanks... I guess," Osaka said blushing, the shock starting to wear down as she hadn't really expected Kaori to agree.

"No problem," Kaori smiled, just about managing to keep herself from bursting out laughing at the sudden awkwardness of Osaka.

"Well, here goes." Scrunching her face closer to Kaori's, Osaka turned fully toward her companion and craned her neck forward slowly in her direction. Kaori at the same time obliged with similar motions, moving her face closer to the advancing one of Osaka's, slowly and carefully, not wanting to freak her friend out by any sudden movements. With their faces having neared within five centimetres of each other, Kaori stopped to see whether Osaka still wanted to proceed, and whether she wanted to take the honours. However, Osaka, blushing furiously, also stopped, starting to feel a little unsure of whether she might not do this right or if she was going embarrass herself or Kaori or...

Seeing as Osaka apparently wasn't going to make the move, Kaori decided to take it on to herself to break the moment of them just staring at each other and, closing her eyes, moved in to close the gap, landing her lips straight on Osaka's. Osaka was slightly taken aback at the suddenness of the contact, but as Kaori quickly moved her hand behind Osaka's head to balance herself, Osaka soon eased into the action as she also closed her eyes and reciprocated Kaori's kiss, encircling Kaori's body lightly with her arms and leaning forward a bit more forcefully. The whole thing wasn't really anything big. Kaori didn't want to go too far on the off chance that Osaka might get uncomfortable, and Osaka rather let Kaori handle the majority of the advance, so both pretty much remained on the coy and tender side without getting into some kind of a passionate smooching event. Sweet, but light.

After a few lingering seconds of their connection, Kaori then released herself and gently backed away, leaving Osaka sitting by with her blush that refused to leave her face, feeling a strange mixture of embarrassment and warmness. Of ecstasy and tenderness.

"Wow..." Osaka breathed.

"So... was it what you expected?" Kaori asked smilingly.

"Softer... definitely softer. And more caressing..." Osaka said thoughtfully. "And the lack of facial hair is certainly noticeable."

"Yeah. That about sounds right I guess," Kaori simply said.

"Yeah... Thanks, Kaorin," Osaka smiled back. "I appreciate you doing this to help me out there. I just always wanted to know how that felt like."

Kaori just smiled, "No problem. Happy to have been of assistance."

"And you're a pretty good kisser, too. I wouldn't mind doing that again," Osaka chirpily told her.

"Yeah, well unfortunately you're married so..." Kaori jokingly pointed at the ring on Osaka's finger. "I'm sorry. It just wouldn't work, senorita," Kaori finished with a dramatic air, hand over her heart.

"Guess not... but... I shalt never forget this favour, my fair maiden," Osaka also said in good humour, any lingering awkwardness getting washed away at the mock swashbuckler references.

"Whooops..." they suddenly heard coming from the direction of the dance floor, causing both Osaka and Kaori to turn their attention toward the direction of the slight, yet all too familiar sounding shriek.

Sakaki had fallen down on the floor. "W-what hap...happened to the... the chair?"

"Oh, God..." Kaori groaned as she facepalmed. She had completely forgotten all about Sakaki when she had been talking and kissing with Osaka, and now Sakaki was apparently getting a little over her head there. Glancing over to the billiard tables, she noted that Yomi and Tomo were both still completely absorbed by their game, and Osaka was apparently unable to think of what to do in this situation, and added to that, all that seemed to be circling the fallen Sakaki now were random drunken guys most likely hoping to score by being the "saviour of the maiden", Kaori supposed it was all pretty much left to her to get Sakaki out of this situation now. Therefore she ironed herself up and went off to see about Sakaki on her own.

Sighing deeply, she quickly advanced her idol, pushing her way into the middle of the guys, and shoo'ed the dismayed men away from Sakaki the best she could, putting on an air of utter confidence.

"Sakaki-san? You okay there?" Kaori asked as she reached out to help Sakaki stand again.

"Kaorin!" Sakaki happily greeted, and immediately slapped her hand over her mouth. "Oops... Gu-guess I accidentially called you 'Kaorin'. Sorry ab-about that..." Sakaki coyly mumbled as she blushed and smiled a bit.

"Yeah, that's okay, Sakaki," Kaori said as she helped the heavily imbued Sakaki stand again and lean on her. "Jeez, how much have you drank?"

"Oh, these here... nice boys gave me s-something called... s-san-sangria, or somethin'. T'was real good... I just had a couple of classes..." Sakaki drawled out.

"Oh, God..." Kaori mumbled. Leave it to her to get a first timer drunk as hell and then not supervise her at all. "Come on, I think it's about time you've had enough."

"Hey, what's the deal?" one of the surrounding guys said.

"Yeah. I think the lady there was having a pretty fun time," said another.

"I think she'd rather like to stay," the first one followed up.

"Sorry, but she's had enough. I'm taking her away," Kaori said lowly.

"Oh, come on! She's just getting started here. Hey, maybe you'd like to come and join in on the fun too..." the second guy said as she laid his hand on Kaori's arm.

Big mistake, as Kaori quickly snapped her head toward the offending guys and, hissing, gave them the most evil glare she had yet given to anybody in her entire life, her sharpish teeth just glistening in the spotlighting of the room, "I said she's had enough!"

The guys quickly got the point and nervously backed away, "Okay, okay... We were just having a little fun..." the other said as the two turned away out of fear of being mauled by the "psycho bitch".

Kaori just turned away and lead the half-conscious Sakaki away from the dance floor. "Hmmmhmm... Kaori-chan..." Sakaki tried mumbling as Kaori took her to the counter where Osaka was still sitting, intently watching what was happening. Dumping Sakaki on the stool beside Osaka, Kaori said, "Hey, Ayumu. Could you look after her for a while? I think she's had one too many to drink. Best to get her home now rather than later, so I'll go call her a taxi to take her home, okay?"

"Sure thing, Kaorin," Osaka a-okeyed.

"Thanks," Kaori said as she flipped out her cellphone and went off a little way from the noise of the background music. Osaka stayed sitting next to Sakaki, who was seriously starting to look like she was about to drop at any moment. Osaka carefully regarded Sakaki lest she suddenly needed to run to the bathroom or feel the need to fall asleep or something like that, when Sakaki got it into her head that she really needed to talk with Osaka right at that minute.

"Hey... Osaka..." Sakaki mumbled almost incoherently, but still understandably enough for Osaka to understand.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Hey, Osaka... y'know... you know what...? I... I like you. R-really... You're... You're... really swell. You're such a... great friend. And I... I really value you. Y'know? You've a have a such a... brain of your own! D'you understood? Like... you've gots like your... your own thoughts. And... and that's real great. See?" Sakaki warbled out while looking at Osaka.

"S-sure..." Osaka said unsurely. She didn't usually have to deal with people this drunk, let alone _Sakaki_ this drunk, which was really out of this world more than any paranormal phenomenon could ever be.

"Cause... I like you, Osaka. Understand? I like you... You're a good... very good friend," Sakaki reaffirmed as Osaka just sweatdropped. And as she swayed some more on her seat in a moment of silence, Sakaki seemed to catch another little flight of thought, "Hey... hey Osaka? Umm... hmmmh... how... how's t... how's tha' aliens?"

Osaka gave Sakaki a weird look and Sakaki simply exploded in laughter. Somehow her little Osaka joke just hit her so hard that she almost found it difficult to stay on that stool. Osaka, on the other hand, didn't seem to get it, and instead kept on giving Sakaki a rather incredulous look. _"__Ah, Kaorin! Come back soon,__"_Osaka wailed in her mind, her feelings of discomfort starting to get a little too much here in the presence of a wasted Sakaki.

As if on cue, Kaori walked back to the side of the two women, "Okay, the taxi will be here in a couple of minutes. I'm going with Sakaki-san and see that she gets home safely. Could you possibly say my byes to Yomi and Tomo as I don't think they are really receptive of anybody right now," Kaori finished as she glanced toward the billiard tables over which Yomi and Tomo were currently locked in a deadly and epic duel of wills as both were apparently aiming for the eight ball in the side pocket simultaneously.

"Sure thing, Kaorin. Umm... are you sure you can handle her alone?" Osaka whispered in concern.

"Don't worry. I got her. Everything'll go just fine. But, hey! It was really great seeing you again, Ayumu" Kaori said with a smile.

"Ah, you too, Kaorin. Too bad it wasn't as great a day as it could have been. But it really _was_ fun seeing you too after all this time. I hope we can get together again at some point," Osaka said warmly.

"Sure thing," Kaori responded and the two shared a small, friendly hug, after which Kaori scooped Sakaki – who was mumbling something about "cute" and "sweet" – into a supporting position and prepared to lead her out of the bar. "I'll see you later, then. Be sure to give my regards to Yomi, and... don't get too sober," Kaori said, and with a final farewell from Osaka, she started leading the stumbling Sakaki outside where the taxi was already waiting.

"Hey... Hey, Kaorin... Y'know you're real swell, too... cute... n' stuff..." Sakaki was still heard drawling before they finally stepped outside and started their way to Sakaki's house.

– O –

At the same time, in an apartment complex in another part of Tokyo, Kagura stepped inside her small, two bedroom condo.

Taking her shoes off, she quietly meandered her way to the kitchen, took our a loaf of bread and an energy drink from her fridge, and sat down to make a late-night snack. To say she was feeling depressed was an understatement. After having left the restaurant, she had been walking around for who knows how long, mulling over everything that had happened that day. After almost two hours of randomly walking around, she finally got herself a taxi and went home.

But whether she hoped to find relief, she was instead confronted by exactly the same thoughts that had plagued her for hours now.

"_If anybody here is trying to ruin anything, it__'__s you!__"_

Yomi's words just seemed to echo and reverb around her walls as if they were still being uttered that very moment. The power of those words just refused to leave her alone.

"_If you want to blame anybody, then just look in the mirror!__"_

Kagura stopped the movement of her hands from buttering the sandwich. _"__My fault?__"_she thought. _"__Was it really my....__"_

"_Now the whole thing__'__s just ruined!__"_

"But that wasn't how it was supposed to happen!" Kagura shouted as if trying to argue against her accusers, slamming her fist on the table. "I didn't... It's... It wasn't my fault! It was all the fault of that leech of a Kaorin!"

But even that argument started to sound so hollow... just like it had for the past two hours or so. It was as if Kagura tried to find an escape from her accusers, an escape to a crime she knew she had committed, but the excuse to which moment by moment just started to sound more and more desperate and empty.

"It... It wasn't... it _wasn__'__t_ my fault... I didn't mean..." Kagura whimpered, lifting her hands over her face, and then, within the silence of her apartment, started weeping bitter tears within their flimsy cover, hoping that those hurtful words and her tormentors did not see her in that pitiful condition, the pain just washing over her entire body. "I'm sorry..."

– O –

_At 10.53 pm, a karakasa gets spooked by a nurikabe in an old forest just outside of town._

_

* * *

So, this is now officially the longest chapter in the story (about 9100 words), and I must say this was really fun to write. The bars the girls visited are, unlike the very real Porterhouse Steaks, entirely imaginary as I didn__'__t want to go to the extent of research to see if there actually are any real bars near the restaurant. Sakaki__'__s drunken state is an extremization of being drunk and a lot of her sensations are based on personal experience (though I__'__ve never cleaned the floors like Sakaki did there). So essentially, for anybody not yet experienced the delights of going out drinking, that__'__s pretty much what it__'__s like. Also the whole kissing thing was inspired of me listening to Ennio Morricone__'__s __"__Chi Mai__"__. What can I say, I__'__m a sucker for fanservice. But it__'__s my damn story, so I__'__ll do what I want. And on a more important note, I think Osaka__'__s managed to instill a little kernel of a thought in Kaori about the life she__'__s leading that may open her eyes a little more to what she really needs and wants from life._

_Oh, and it was a pure joke that most likely when Osaka gets drunk, she actually gets more and more sober as she goes along. XD _

_Anyway, next chapter will be up when ever I feel like writing it. Until then, peace! (Disclaimer! Some spelling mistakes in this chapter were intentional.)_


	13. Of Plushies & Hangovers

_Hello again. Welcome to the day after. This chapter surprised me how long it turned out, but that__'__s only good for me. I must say, when it comes to this story, it__'__s actually surprisingly hard to keep perspective. Even as I__'__ve spent a good six months already writing, in story time it__'__s only been like four days in all. In that regard, it__'__s hard to keep everything moving smoothly and not too abruptly, something I try to avoid. But my general plans are by now pretty well cleared up, and most likely this story will top out at between 22 and 24 chapters (depending on how everything pans out). I think that__'__s a respectable length for the story to accomplish its goals. So, hope you enjoy this next installment of the story._

_

* * *

On Sunday, June 1st, 2014, at 11.33 am, a woman opens her windows and yells out __"__It__'__s Summer. You lad, go buy me a turkey!__"__ She goes completely ignored._

_Along the same street, butcher Sakai Hiroshi is disappointed that now nobody will likely buy his new __"__Summer Turkeys__"__._

– O –

Sakaki loved plushies. She simply adored them. They were soft. They were cuddly. The were warm and comforting. One could just take one in their arms, hug it, squeeze it, feel an overwhelming sense of happiness and not fear rejection or that the plushie would somehow not like being handled that way.

Sakaki had, for as long as she could remember, had a plushie. Her earliest recollections even involved one... a big, fat bunny that was almost as big as she was at that time. It was so big that she had to carry it with both arms clasping the toy over her chest, and she would have to peek behind it to see where she was going. It was her first friend, and she took him with her everywhere.

Fluffles-chan, is what she called him.

Over time, her selection of plushies grew and so did the comfort they brought. At one time every corner and cabinet in her room was filled with one type of toy or another. They were her friends... indeed her only friends. She had always been uncertain of making actual human friends, and in later life, most people seemed to want to stay away from her anyway, so her precious plushies were the only ones she could feel any kind of companionship from.

But it didn't really matter to her at all. She had seen other people... at the playground, and later at school, to sometimes have hurt one another. _Friends_ as they called themselves, and Sakaki could never figure out why. If people were friends with each other, didn't that mean you were supposed to be "friendly" with one another? It was one thing Sakaki didn't understand, and it made her feel a little scared of having to get these kinds of _friends_ who'd only end up making her feel terrible when she didn't want to feel like that.

But her plushies... they were different. They never argued. They never got angry. They never teased. They were always there when you needed them, and they always offered consolation and warmth when it was needed. Sure they didn't actually do anything like the human children did, but neither was there any danger of Sakaki ending up feeling hurt over one thing or another.

Regardless of this, however, she did still secretly harbour a genuine wish to have something more lively around her as well. Something that wouldn't just silently sit about and never get involved with the animated games that other children were able to indulge in with each other. To this end, she discovered that cats in particular seemed to be ideal for what she desired. They were cute. They were fluffy. They were playful. They usually got attached to whomever they considered as their family. They were the closest best thing that Sakaki could hope from in a combination of a plushie and a friend. But no matter how much she wished and begged her parents, she was always turned down. "Allergies" was always the answer.

Sakaki didn't understand at first what that word actually meant, but it was a word she knew was a hateful and bad word. A word, or thing, that kept her from having one of those personal friends of her own. And to make matters worse, when ever she chanced to encounter an actual cat, they either always ran away, or bit her on her fingers. But like a moth to a fire, she could never accept defeat, and was drawn to those feline beings, always wishing to find one who would accept her as a friend, and who wouldn't be inflicted with these "allergies" that apparently denied her to get close to one.

As she grew, her awareness of the world naturally grew as well, and her understanding of friendship grew a little too, but no matter how hard she wanted or, in her meek way tried, she for some reason never seemed to find another person to call a "friend". They either stayed away, or maybe here or there said a word or two to her, but usually never more. It was as if other people hated her and did the best they could to keep her away, as if she had some sort of a disease. Or maybe because she was usually so much taller than everybody else made her look like a freak or something, a monster not meant to interact with humans. It was at this time that she grew to really hate her body and she wished she could have been normal like everybody else was so she didn't have to be shunned. And, in this atmosphere of desperation, again she would seek her comfort from her family of plushies, who'd never leave her alone and who'd never consider her somehow monstrous. It wasn't until her entrance into high school at age 15, by which time she had already adjusted to her always remaining a social recluse, that she had, to her immense surprise, found herself to have made her first real, human friends. There was cute Chiyo... and then later on Tomo, Yomi, Osaka, and Kagura, who all seemed to pull her into a little circle in which she could feel comfort, intimacy and, something that had eluded her for so long... actual friendship in which she was not judged or viewed as abnormal or anything else offensive like that.

And then, at times, there was also the small, almost unnoticeable presence that was called "Kaorin". Almost an olive branch trying to reach out hesitantly and cautiously, but always disappearing before there was time to grasp it, a ripple in the pond that nobody ever paid attention to. But as always, the thoughts of that little entity, that seemed to flit among other, more tangible memories, always seemed to get mixed up with winds and distortions that decimated or pushed away that fragile image. And when ever that happened, it seemed to cause a slight ache to run through the phantom Sakaki residing in the corridors of hazy reminiscence and nostalgia, as if trying to explain in a broken or dead tongue a message that Sakaki might have missed before, but should have noticed. A message somehow encrypted with something once said perhaps, or something simply communicated via a pair of sparkling and pleading eyes that seemed to want to say something, but what was never understood outside of some more astute interpreter that Sakaki was not.

Therefore, as with anything, those strange feelings most likely were nothing more than random events of the subconscious, marched in front of Sakaki's eyes like a phantasmogorical landscape without meaning or actual sense. And come the end of high school, it was again a brave new world to face, with the advancement of adulthood shining in the near horizon meant the end of innocent days and thoughts of running freely in the meadows of youth. Thankfully the strong bonds of friendship forged so seamlessly over the short period of three years persevered the challenges of change, even while being separated and stretched so much during this time. But what had been accomplished by that new sensation of friendship, it still failed to hand out that what so many had crafted in their lives even at that early a stage... a more intimate closeness with that one special person Sakaki had expected would be right around the corner as the concept of friendship had finally opened its secret treasures for her to see and hold. She had many special friends, but not that one special special friend, like mother had in father.

Again Sakaki felt herself confiding in her beloved plushies, her silent listeners and comforters who, even though their importance had been diminished over time, still offered their support and a fleeting sense of happiness. And combined with the joy that her wildcat Maya brought, indeed a joy she had so much longed for in the past, it sufficed for the time being. But there was always that one thing that Sakaki still deep down longed for... that something that her plushies, or Maya, or her friends, could not give her: the feeling of another human being whom to hold close and feel the warmth of the person's body, or the pounding vitality of life, or the feeling of belonging with something greater than just being with herself alone during movie nights on the sofa, or while lying in bed, waiting for the advancement of a new day. Of course these feelings started out very mild, and her friends compensated for a lot of her new sensory landscapes, but over time these feelings started to grow more and more strong as she left to forge a new path in her life, and which inevitably was influenced by new people and their respective dreams and emotions.

And along the way, Sakaki also began to truly miss having that something undefinable, that one thing that was seemingly missing in her life, but which she could not herself seemingly experience. And thus Sakaki'd turn to her plushies for comfort yet again for, indeed, she still loved her plushies. And her plushies loved her. And her heart felt once more at peace.

But not with the plushie she was used to. Or at least, that in the hazy memory that allowed her to feel things, it didn't. No. This was a plushie she did not seem to identify. It was a plushie strangely not as soft as normal, though still not exactly hard either. Nor was this plushie seemingly furry or light as the exteriors of wool and insides of cotton seemed to command. No, this was something wholly different... and warmer too. Oddly warm. Truly something that fit not in her intimate library of plushie hugs.

With her curiosity peaked, Sakaki quietly pushed back the remnants of her dreams and adventures of youth, and carefully opened her eyes. What vision welcomed her on the other side was perhaps the greatest shock Sakaki had ever experienced in her entire life, making her gasp sharply and to flip her eyes open as wide as she could.

Looking back at her was not a plushie at all! Instead, she was confronted by the calmly sleeping face of _Kaori_, seemingly still completely removed from this world, her breathing heavy and deep. And what was even more shocking was that, apart from having her face only a few centimetres away from the sleeping woman, Sakaki had somehow managed to entangle both of her arms to seemingly hold her like one of her plushies, tightly squeezing her limp body against her chest.

It took a moment for Sakaki's brain to kick into gear as, after about 10 seconds of regarding the rather embarrassing situation that this time didn't seem to dissipate in a wave of winds or ripples, Sakaki quickly pulled her arms away from Kaori, rolled on the bed away from her, and soon found herself tumbling down on her carpet, the long, stripey fabrics of it entering her mouth and causing her the cough.

Slowly raising herself from the floor, she caught Kaori again in her sights, the smaller woman weakly stirring and opening her eyes ever so slightly in a moment of unconscious disturbance, but soon enough falling back into her comatose slumber with a deep inhale.

Sakaki was utterly bewildered as to how this had happened. Kaori was still fully clothed, and her feet were seemingly dangling over the edge of the bed, as if she was trying to sit at the same time as she was sleeping. She looked utterly peaceful, though, and didn't seem to be at all conscious as to what was happening around her, in a way giving out a strange mixture of matured cute.

"Thankfully she didn't notice anything and that I'm still fully clothed too," Sakaki quietly mused to herself in relief, and she probably would have continued contemplating the situation some more had it then not struck her.

"Oooooowwwww..." she moaned very low. The headache suddenly exploded in her brain and caused her to bend back down on the floor again, her hands shooting up to grip the sides of her head. The sensation was so totally unexpected, and somehow it was so blistering at the same time, that Sakaki could barely think at all. _"__Ooooohhhh... my head...__"_Sakaki thought, _"__W-what is going ooooonnn??__"_

The pain was frankly terrible. It just seemed to flow out in torrents, one wave after another, causing a sharp pain to blast through her brain, zig-zag between her eyes and then explode in her mouth, making her feel as if her teeth were about to drop off. Never had Sakaki felt anything comparable to this. Even the bites of cats seemed like sweet kisses in comparison. Moaning and rolling on her thick carpet, Sakaki's eyes were starting to water and she just wanted to either cry or die... which ever was more relieving. _"__Why? Why? Why? Whyyyyyy?__"_

Trying to get up, Sakaki steadied herself on the bed and pushed herself slowly up on her feet, her muscles hurting everywhere and her jaw feeling particularly sore for some reason. Standing there in her wavering condition, she kept her body bent over with one hand leaning on the bed and the other holding her head. Sneaking another look at the sleeping Kaori, Sakaki for a moment felt a surge of anger blasting through her towards the other woman for looking so damn calm and untroubled. But this feeling lasted only a small moment, replaced soon after by guilt, and then...

"Uuuuuugggghhh..." Sakaki said as her head-hand shot over her mouth. _"__Oh crap...__"_she whispered to herself as she quickly bolted from the bedroom and headed straight towards her bathroom, slamming the door shut and then proceeding to make gagging sounds as she threw up in her toilet bowl.

Jolted up by the sudden commotion of hearing a door slam shut somewhere in her vicinity, Kaori startled, half-opened her eyes and, after taking her time to gather her bearings, lowly groaning turned her body more straight from the awkward position she found herself in. "Uugh... I've slept in a terrible position... again. Oh, my back..." she softly murmured as she gently rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes, wiggled her other arm to rub her aching back and, turning her head toward the opposite side of the room, squinted at the sunlight that was filtering through the window to signal the beginning of summer.

"Stupid sunlight..." Kaori quietly cursed, feeling a little photo sensitive that morning, "I should have pulled the drapes..."

"_Wait... pulled the drapes? In the bedroom?__"_Kaori suddenly found herself wondering. _"__But... why is my window there?__"_

Slowly sitting up, she gazed about the room in a half-waking stupor, and quickly came to the conclusion that in fact she was _not_ in her bedroom, but in somebody else's room entirely. "The hell...?" Looking around a bit more, her heart suddenly lurched slightly as the familiarity of the place hit her. _"__Oh no... You have got to be kidding me...__"_

Sure enough, her suspicions were corroborated a few minutes later as a very worn looking Sakaki quietly stumbled back into the room, a vision that made Kaori's eyes involuntarily widen in sheer shock and also from the absolute uniqueness of seeing the stoic, always so strong-looking Sakaki so... well un-strong like. _"__Oh, no... Tell me this is a nightmare and I__'__ll wake up soon!__"_

"Oh... Morning, Kaori," Sakaki slurred while still holding her one hand over her aching head.

"M-m-morning..." Kaori choked.

Sakaki slowly stepped toward the bed and presently sat on it, feeling completely unable to remain standing for a second longer, and with a heavy sigh she bent her head down to rest between both of her arms she now had propped on her thighs. Kaori looked on in silence and contemplated what she should do. By the looks of it, she could easily see that Sakaki was suffering from one monster hangover, and she was not surprised. Thinking back on last night, Sakaki had truly gone in with all guns blazing. Kaori, while not in a 100 percent best condition herself, was feeling considerably better thanks to having been in a better control with her drinking, but Sakaki had jugged more drinks down than was really good for a first timer. And certainly Kaori knew exactly what Sakaki was going through as she had been there herself numerous times in the past before she matured enough to know the importance of moderation.

Thinking that she couldn't let Sakaki continue on suffering the way she was, she softly broke the silence, "Hey, Sakaki-san. How're you feeling?"

"Mmmmhhh..." was all Sakaki bothered to say.

"That bad, huh?" Kaori said with a slight smile, finding Sakaki's predicament frankly rather amusing for its sheer uncharacterfulness. "Don't worry. It'll pass eventually."

"It feels like my brain is going to melt and drip out of my nose..." Sakaki miserated her wretched condition.

"Well... welcome to the wonderful world of alcohol," Kaori gently joked.

"I'm never drinking again..." Sakaki mumbled.

Letting out a small chuckle, Kaori simply responded, "So you say..."

"No, I'm serious. I don't ever want to touch that vile substance again," Sakaki answered more adamantly. "And I don't understand how people actually like this."

"Well, to be honest, this was all pretty much your own fault, Sakaki-san," Kaori said, and after receiving a small, humourless glare from Sakaki, she continued, "Well, you _were_ drinking like there was no tomorrow. I'd be lying if I'd say you weren't begging for a monster hangover in the morning."

"Mmmh..." Sakaki grunted again in response.

Tilting her head a bit to the side, Kaori decided that for this once she might as well act as the hero in Sakaki's place, and offered, "Would you like me to prepare something for you that'll help you get better?"

Sakaki gave a forlorn look, and gave a simple nod as an affirmative.

"Okay then. Come on, let's go downstairs, and I promise you won't be feeling this bad in a while," Kaori said as she gave Sakaki a hand in getting up and offered support to her as they made their way out of the bedroom.

– O –

Seating Sakaki down on the couch, Kaori told her to just sit tight for a while as she headed off into the kitchen to prepare her hangover drink. Sakaki, in the mean while, dropped down to lie on the couch in an effort to try and ease her throbbing head.

Sakaki had never in her memory felt this terrible, and it didn't make matters any better that those images of her waking up with Kaori in her arms were refusing to leave her alone. What was worse, though, was that she really didn't have the slightest clue as to how this outcome had been reached. In fact, there seemed to be considerable moments of complete blackness in place of certain memories that pertained to particular events last night. It was as if parts of Sakaki's memory had simply been erased and no records existed on what happened in the latter hours of the bar sojourn she had been on with her friends.

Too bad her head simply ached so terribly that any actual thinking was practically impossible. "_Urghh... I wish Kaori__'__d hurry up with that remedy she promised,__"_Sakaki lamented.

It wasn't long before Kaori once again emerged, carrying two glasses of some yellow liquid. Handing the other glass over to Sakaki, Kaori happily said, "Cheers," as she lifted her own glass and took a sip from it.

Sakaki looked a little hesitant, not the least because her condition was so shaky that she didn't know if she could handle anything going down. "What is it?"

"A banana milkshake. Great for hangovers. Works every time," Kaori explained.

"Banana milkshake?" Sakaki asked suspiciously. The drink just seemed somehow so... childish. This was the great remedy? Was Sakaki's condition some kind of a joke to her?

"Mmhmm," Kaori nodded, "Bananas are great for calming your stomach down, and add a lot of missing electrolytes, magnesium and potassium into your body, while the milk works as a rehydrator. And I also added some honey there, which builds up your depleted blood sugar levels. All of that works to cure any ailing sense of being bombed. And it tastes good, too," Kaori smiled.

Sakaki just stared at Kaori, "Wow... you sure do know a lot of things."

"Ehehehe... Well, not really... It's just some random stuff I've picked up along the way," Kaori embarrassed.

"No... you _do_ know a lot of stuff that I would never be able to understand. I think that's really... admirable," Sakaki sincerely nodded as she took a big gulp of the shake.

"Oh, well... it's... it's really not _that _big of a deal. You know you're just making me embarrassed, Sakaki-san," Kaori nervously chuckled.

"You shouldn't be. I mean, if you had not been here for instance, I don't think I would have known what to do with this headache. So that already makes your knowledge on these kinds of things really invaluable to me," Sakaki said as she took another gulp. Kaori decided to stop arguing on the matter and settled on to just blushing in her seat.

After a couple of minutes of the silence had passed, Sakaki drinking the shake and trying to ease the throbbing in her head at the same time, Sakaki decided that she might as well ask Kaori about last night, as she seemed to be in considerably better condition and might actually know how everything played out after Sakaki had blacked out – though she hoped that maybe some of the more juicier bits were as unknown to her as some parts of yesterday were for Sakaki. "Say, Kaori? Can I ask you... what exactly happened last night?"

"Mmm? You mean like... besides the drinking?" Kaori asked with a slight arc of her eyebrow.

"Mmm. It seems that I... umm... don't seem to... remember certain... events..." Sakaki said uncertainly.

"Ah... blackouts. You really did end up drinking a lot, didn't you?" Kaori said somewhat amused.

"Well..." Sakaki started, but before she could get any farther, she was again gripped by a sudden surge of nausea in her gut as her stomach gave an audible lurch. "Oh... Oh, not again... excuse me a moment, Kaori!" she quickly exclaimed and bolted straight from her seat towards the bathroom, her hand again covering her mouth, and shortly followed by an encore of muffled gagging noises from behind the closed door.

"Poor Sakaki-san..." Kaori thought sympathetically.

Left to her own devices, Kaori leaned back and decided she might as well indulge on remembering last night, even as her own recollections were not exactly that clear either.

_Last night_

Having left the Raspberry Heaven, Kaori had essentially shoved Sakaki into the taxi waiting outside before being able to get in herself. Giving out Sakaki's address, thanking her good fortune of actually knowing it, the ensuing journey actually revolved in general calm... save for the fact that midway on their way, Sakaki decided to indulge in a bit of impromptu _a cappella_ karaoke.

"_I'm gonna dance for you..._

_Gonna dance... your cares away..._

_I'll do the... the hootchie-coo..._

_And the... ummm... Ta-ra-boom-de-ay__"_

Sakaki crooned. She wasn't a bad singer normally, but now her voice was slurring all over the place and she seemingly couldn't hold a note even if she tried. To top it all off, she was hardly staying awake and was continuously leaning on Kaori's shoulder, before snapping up again and crooning some more straight into Kaori's ear.

"_I'll sing a happy song while_

_I dance the whole night long... _hehehe...

_...When the music begins_

_I'll give you some spins..._

_I'll... I__'__ll even invent a s-step or two..._

_So on with the show!!!_

_You'll love it I know..._

_Oh, I'm going to dance for you...__"_

Kaori wasn't frankly that thrilled. She had dealt with super drunks before, but they were often tolerable enough... until they got the urge to sing... and Sakaki apparently wasn't that much of an exception. And when she at times emphasised her words by little pokes, Kaori could feel for the first time in her life that Sakaki was actually starting to irritate her a little. But she persevered, knowing that Sakaki wasn't exactly in her right mind, and allowed her little concert to go on for the rest of the trip... though wishing she'd get the good sense to shut up.

Once they reached Sakaki's house, Kaori could only let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey... hey... I k-know that house..." Sakaki blubbered.

"Yes, Sakaki-san, we're home," Kaori said as she paid the driver for the trip this far, deciding that she'd better see first about getting Sakaki safely to bed and then getting another taxi to take her home once everything was seemingly all right.

"O-Our home?" Sakaki asked with wide eyes.

"Your home," Kaori corrected.

"Oh... oh yeah... you don't live here..." Sakaki said burrowing her brows, "Would be funny if you did though..."

"Yeah sure," Kaori said, only half-listening to Sakaki's rambling.

Kaori essentially had to drag Sakaki out of the taxi as she didn't seem to want to leave, and once outside, Sakaki promptly began leaning on Kaori again like her personal human crutch.

Fishing out the keys from Sakaki's pocket, Kaori made her way inside with the stumbling Sakaki in close tow. Once inside, Sakaki was quick to notice Maya sitting on the living room floor, the cat having been alerted to by the noises of the door opening.

"Mayaaaa..." Sakaki lumbered on, hobbling along toward her pet wildcat with the most ridiculous face she had ever been known to make and began cuddling the cat, "Wudgy wudgy woo... did you miss Mommy? Cause Mommy missed you..." she blabbed.

Kaori took off her jacket, and spent a little time in looking over the antics of her former idol, taking in the completely different person she had become under influence. And after having allowed for about two minutes of Sakaki cutegasming on Maya, Kaori decided that was enough and slowly walked over to the goddess.

"Okay, come on, Sakaki. It's time for bed," she said as she gently tugged at Sakaki's arm.

"Ooh... but I'm not tired... Kaori-chan," Sakaki slurred. "Let's... urmmmh... dance..." she attempted, but Kaori said no, telling her that sleep is better.

Despite Sakaki's protests to the contrary, she wasn't really in her best strength to put up much of a fight, and Kaori managed to get Sakaki to come with her upstairs. Once they had, with considerable difficulty, ascended the stairs, Kaori led Sakaki to the upstairs bathroom, and told her to brush her teeth. Sakaki wavered a bit, but decided to comply as Kaori seemed so insistent that there didn't seem to be anything she could say against that.

With Sakaki finally brushing her teeth as she was seated on the toilet's seat, Kaori decided to allow her friend privacy and walked over to the master bedroom of cute. It still struck her strange how this room was so incredibly girly. Filled with plushies and soft furniture, the interior of this room just felt so utterly against the persona Sakaki usually put out for people to see. Kaori didn't quite understand why Sakaki decided to hide it, but then again it wasn't really her place to ask... maybe one day she'd get to hear the reasons, but that day would have to wait.

Sitting down on Sakaki's soft bed, the fatigue of the day, from her initial trepidations of meeting Sakaki in a less than informal atmosphere, the problems she had had with Kagura, the breakup, the emotional turmoil, and the drowsiness brought about by the alcohol, were starting to inevitably take their toll. Kaori really didn't want to do anything else but just see that Sakaki got to bed safely, and then get home as fast as possible and sleep until the next afternoon.

But as she waited for Sakaki to come, she thought, as the bed she was sitting on felt so nice and soft and warm and comfortable, that she might as well just lay down for a couple of minutes. Just to rest her eyes for a small while. Laying down in a half-seated position, her legs still dangling off the side of the bed, all that was going on in Kaori's head was _"__just a few minutes... when Sakaki gets here, I__'__ll set her down to bed, then get on home... and my own bed... and then I can put this wretched day behind me... But just a few short minutes to rest my eyes first... just... a minute...__"_

...And thus ended Kaori's recollections as she drifted back to the present day. Yep, that's what had happened, _"__I fell asleep... Nice going, Kaori. couldn__'__t you have not thought of any worse place than Sakaki__'__s house to pass out in?__"_she berated herself, but which was soon replaced by another curious little question that popped into her mind at that very moment. "_But wait... If I slept on Sakaki-san__'__s bed... then where did Sakaki-san herself sleep? In the bathroom where I left her? Gosh, I hope not...__"_

– O –

At the same time in the bathroom, Sakaki had finally steadied herself from her second vomiting trip, though she was still bending over her toilet bowl in exhaustion.

Regardless of this, she had not forgotten about wanting to also still find out about what happened last night. Thus she continued on searching her own memories of last night the best she could under the circumstances. However, apart from a couple of hazy shots that suggested themselves in her mind, there seemed to be nothing... apart from one strange image that seemed slightly more clear than the others. It involved a sleeping Kaori-chan lying on her bed... a wobbly pink room with equally wobbly plushies... and the random strand of a thought that seemed to repeat the phrase of, _"__I wonder whether she__'__s as soft as a plushie...?__"_

Sakaki just sighed and shook her head lightly as she mumbled, "Oh god, Sakaki... You need help..."

Stepping out of the bathroom, she thought that, upon further reflection, maybe she really didn't need to... or to be more specific _want_ to know what transpired last night and maybe not remembering was actually a blessing that had been bestowed upon her by the deities in the heavens.

Walking back to the living room, she found Kaori still sitting on the couch, sipping on her banana shake and seemingly lost in thought. As Sakaki advanced some further, Kaori seemed to snap out of her inner world as if startled by suddenly noticing not being alone anymore. "Ah, Sakaki-san! H-how're you feeling?" she asked a bit blustered.

Sakaki wondered what she could have been thinking so intently, but didn't want to pry, so she just nodded, "A bit better." With that she ambled to the couch and sat down, this time determined that she wanted to get rid of the pounding in her head and grabbed the rest of her shake with the intent that this time she'd get through it.

Kaori in the mean time fell silent again for not knowing how she should approach her concerns about stealing Sakaki's bed like she had. She didn't like the implication that she had possibly caused great inconvenience like that, particularly concerning the condition Sakaki had been in last night and her current terrible hangover. After taking a few moments to asses what was the best way to apologise, Kaori reached the conclusion that the simplest way was most likely the best. "I'm sorry," she quietly said, breaking the silence.

Sakaki looked a little confused, "For what?"

"For stealing your bed. And not looking after you," Kaori said.

Sakaki flared bright red at that, ending up becoming speechless when the bed issue so suddenly came up.

"I promised that I'd see about you getting safely to bed and make sure that you weren't left somehow in a bad position, and what did I end up doing? Fall asleep in your bed. I'm really sorry... I really didn't mean for that to happen. But somehow I just couldn't stay awake. Please forgive me," Kaori pathetically finished.

"Kaori... there's nothing to forgive. It's... it was all right. I... I understand perfectly. In fact, I... I... umm... should probably... apologise to you," Sakaki said hesitantly.

"To me?" Kaori asked.

"Yes... For inconveniencing you in the first place... and... for... well... for kinda... s-sharing the bed... with you..." Sakaki said, just about managing to get it all out.

"S-sharing?!" Kaori asked, her eyes widening in shock and a streak of crimson appearing across her face.

"At a respectful distance, of course!" Sakaki quickly lied in order to not break any more social boundaries than she already had.

"Oh... oh, I... I see..." Kaori said, the blush refusing to leave her cheeks. _"__I slept in the same bed _with_ Sakaki-san? If I were younger, I would have probably died at hearing that,__"_Kaori thought with a feverish redness on her face.

"So... really, don't feel like you need to somehow apologise, all right? I guess last night was just... a weird one, so... I guess that's about all one needs to say about it, ne?" Sakaki said.

"Yeah... I guess so, too. Water under the bridge, and all that," Kaori said with a forced carefree smile.

"Mmm..." Sakaki finished, and leaving both falling silent once more for not knowing where to go from that awkward situation.

Without either of them noticing, Maya had at the same time meandered his way toward the two fidgety women. With both Sakaki and Kaori being more interested in the space in front of them, Maya decided to not be ignored anymore and jumped on the arm rest next to Kaori.

The sudden appearance of the wildcat startled the already nervous Kaori, causing her to jump slightly. Maya stood there for a while, seemingly carefully studying the strange woman in his home as if to see whether she was dangerous or not. And after a moment of scrutiny, decided that she was no threat and moved over to sit on Kaori's lap.

Kaori was slightly perturbed as the cat decided to make himself comfortable on her lap and laid down as if on a cushion, but soon relaxed and out of habit started stroking the cat, hesitantly at first before gaining more confidence to her grip. Maya apparently seemed to like this as he started to softly purr and made himself even more comfortable by rolling on his back and allowed Kaori to ruffle his stomach in a show of trust.

Sakaki watched in fascination at the unfolding scene and Maya's reactions to Kaori. Smiling gently, she said, "Maya seems to like you."

"Oh? You think so?" Kaori said.

"Mmm. He doesn't usually take in to strangers this fast... if at all, really. But he seems really comfortable with you to even allow you to scratch his belly," Sakaki said.

"Oh, well... guess I just get along with cats in general. I used to have a lot of them back in school, but had to give them up once I got into my astronomy studies deeper. I've been thinking of getting another cat at some point, though, but just haven't gotten around to it yet," Kaori said.

"Yes. I... I remember your cats. They... they were very cute. I... actually wanted to ask once if I could have... come to see them... but I kind of didn't..." Sakaki blushed.

"Oh?" Kaori asked. _"__Well if only I had known that before...__"_she thought before saying out loud, "So... why didn't you?"

"I don't know... I... guess I was just too nervous to ask, and I didn't want to impose," Sakaki said embarrassed. "And then I guess I just kind of... forgot."

Kaori stared at Sakaki, _"__How ironic... I__'__m learning all this stuff about her that I would have killed to know before... and which all now seems so trivial...__"_she thought.

"But... you know, if you desire to get a cat again, I'd be more than happy to help. I have about ten cats in the store now that I've taken good care of, so if you really want one, you should come see them some time," Sakaki offered.

"Oh, thanks, Sakaki-san. I'll keep that in mind. But I just want to be sure I can take a cat and not end up neglecting it or stuff like that, depending on how my career will launch," Kaori said.

"Mmm... that's a good way to think. Too many people take pets that they end up not caring about in the end or get bored with them. And it's always the animals that lose in the end," Sakaki said in determination, while adding, "I see you're not one of them, though. I'm glad about that."

"Well..." Kaori said a bit nervously again.

"And Maya can see that too," Sakaki said as she gazed at the wildcat on Kaori's lap. "You know, animals are interesting in that they can sense things that people will never be able to. They can tell what kind of a person you are, or how you treat others. So if Maya feels like he can instinctively trust you to this degree off the bat, then... I'm relieved as well... to know that I have not been mistaken in having placed my trust in you when it regarded yesterday."

"Oh, Sakaki-san... I'm not sure I'm all that..." Kaori started, never having been particularly good at accepting compliments, let alone compliments from Sakaki, but Sakaki was quick to interrupt.

"Yes you are, Kaori. I trust in Maya's judgement implicitly, and if he can trust you, then I can trust you. And that's why it makes me doubly sad how Kagura treated you before," Sakaki said seriously.

Kaori didn't have any excuses left to counter Sakaki's words, nor did she really know what she could really say in general anyway, so she just turned her attention back to Maya and continued on scratching the cat.

Sakaki regarded the shorter woman a bit more, "Are you all right, Kaori?" she asked and, after getting a curious little glance from Kaori, added, "You know... regarding the whole Kagura issue?"

"I'm fine," Kaori said, returning her eyes to the cat again, "Me and Kagura have never really gotten along too well, so I guess it's not that big of a deal. Guess it'll just mean nothing'll really change and it'll be business as usual. I'll survive."

Sakaki silently nodded and turned her own gaze to her own lap. She hated the fact that one of her very best of friends, and another whom in the short space of time she had come to know her, and was already making an indelibly good impression on her, couldn't get along with one another. If only there was something she could do to somehow change the situation for the better... But the only problem was that the rift between Kagura and Kaori already seemed to be so great that there was not likely to be anything that Sakaki could do to fix things.

While so musing, she was suddenly startled as a piece of music started to drift into her ear from the direction of the front door. The sound also alerted Kaori. "Ah, that's my phone," she said and quickly maneuvred Maya away from her lap as she headed off to answer. "I wonder who'd be calling me on a Sunday..." she mused out loud.

"This Kaori," she answered as she got her phone from the pocket of her light jacket.

"_Ah, Aida-san. It__'__s Shibuchi,__"_came the voice on the other side belonging to one member of her post-doc project group at the observatory.

"Shibuchi-san? What's up?" Kaori asked.

"_Sorry to call you on your holiday, Aida-san, but this is important.__"_

"Oh? What is? What's going on?"

"_It__'__s happening. It__'__s happening, and it__'__s happening two weeks from now,__"_Shibuchi excitedly said.

"What? What's happening?" Kaori asked starting to feel a bit frustrated.

"_The Triad. It__'__s speeding up, and according to our calculations, the connection will happen within the space of _two weeks_ from now.__"_

"WHAT!?! Are you serious? How is that possible? That wasn't supposed to happen for another three months!" Kaori said utterly bewildered.

"_I know, and we can__'__t explain it. The velocity of the projectiles have increased exponentially the closer they__'__ve been getting, and it seems they__'__re not slowing down now.__"_

"That's not possible! There's been no sign of any rise in acceleration for the period of five decades. Why all of a sudden? Are you completely sure about your calculations?"

"_Yes, I am. We__'__ve already been throwing theories about. The best we__'__ve come up with thus far is that it may be cause of some inertia of gravity that is pulling them together the closer they get, and it__'__s only now been gathering energy.__"_

"That would have to be some gravity pull. But doesn't explain why now all of a sudden. If there's been no sign of anything like that for decades, why now?"

"_We don__'__t know... but we do need you to come over here ASAP. The Prof__'__s barely staying in his pants, and he__'__s demanding that his star pupil be there to head the research she started,__"_Shibuchi said in an amused voice.

"I'll be right there! I'll just... oh, shit wait! I don't have my car here. Hey, can you possibly get somebody to pick me up? Like Takano maybe. I'll give you the address. It won't take long to get here from the observatory."

"_Sure, I__'__ll handle it,__"_ Shibuchi said as he grabbed some paper and a pen. _"__Fast streets of freedom last night, eh?__"_

"More or less," Kaori conceded.

Once Kaori had given the address, she hung up and froze in a meditative pose for a while, staring at her phone, but apparently contemplating the conversation she just had. Sakaki, having observed the animated discussion Kaori had had with apparently some work colleague of her's, curiously watched her new friend lost in thought before softly asking, "Kaori?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Kaori turned toward Sakaki, who continued, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. It was just some... work related matter. I'm afraid I have to get to the observatory immediately, so I have a colleague coming to pick me up in a while. He'll be here in maybe 30 minutes," Kaori rambled out.

"Ah. Then I suppose we'll have to cut this visit short," Sakaki said, "Thank you again for everything, Kaori... for bringing me home and for looking after me like that... and for the banana shakes as well."

"Oh, think nothing of it. Thank _you _for letting me sleep here last night," Kaori smiled back.

"Mmm. It was no problem. I was happy to oblige," Sakaki said equally smiling, her hangover having already started to miraculously dissipate.

– O –

Around 35 minutes later, Takano arrived at the house he was instructed to find and didn't have to wait long until Kaori practically ran to his car and jumped in. "Okay, let's get going," she said and gave one last wave to Sakaki standing at the door with Maya held gently in her arms, responding with a similar gesture.

Once the car disappeared, Sakaki slowly made her way back inside, and sat down on her couch again, enjoying her time with Maya like she often liked to do during mornings. She also used the time to think back to Kaori once more. It was truly astounding to Sakaki how after only such a short time of truly having gotten to know the stargazer, Sakaki had learned so much about her already, and had to her immense pleasure come to like what she found. Not only did she seem to be somebody Sakaki enjoyed spending time with, she was also smart, kind, modest and she had even passed the Maya test with flying colours.

Not to mention, they both obviously shared an interest in cats and thankfully Kaori didn't seem to be judgemental of Sakaki in the least like so many others in her experience had been since very early on. And she had such a fascinating career as well that, even if Sakaki knew next to nothing about it, seemed to effect Sakaki as well thanks to Kaori's apparent passion for it. If only she wasn't so prone to be so nervous or self-depreciating... and then of course there was the Kagura issue. Sakaki frankly didn't know what to do with that. She found herself wondering if the two could not get along, then how would that effect her friendship with them. Would Kagura be able to accept that Kaori was now a friend of Sakaki's, or would she simply abandon Sakaki as a friend, something which Sakaki wanted to avoid at all costs. Or would Kagura continue to put obstacles in the way of forcing Kaori to possibly leave... to be ousted from Sakaki's company for good. That also was not acceptable. Or could there be some middle road to keep them at least somehow friendly with each other? Certainly the two were like night and day, and didn't seem to share any similar interests, but... who knows. Fate often has surprises up his sleeve.

But there within lie the entire dilemma. How could those two be made to at least tolerate one another so that things wouldn't escalate any more than they already had? It just seemed such a hopeless dream that Sakaki was starting to feel a bit desperate. But she was always of the opinion that as long as you dared to dream, maybe things would turn out for the better eventually.

It was then that her own phone started ringing. Cursing a bit as she didn't really feel like talking to whomever might be trying to contact her... probably a sale's person or something. But then again, it could be something important, so Sakaki set Maya down and hopped to answer the caller, ignoring the remnants of her throbbing hangover.

"Sakaki residence," she said in the receiver.

"_Sakaki? Hey... It__'__s... It__'__s me,__"_ a familiar voice answered.

"Kagura?" Sakaki said in surprise. _"__Well, isn't this convenient?__"_she thought, as she wasn't really expecting a call from her of all people.

"Yeah, hey! I hope I didn't catch you in a bad time," Kagura said.

"No... It's okay."

"Oh, good. So... umm... How've you been doing?"

"Getting better... Morning was unpleasant, though."

"Oh, yeah... I... uh... called Yomi already earlier today. You apparently had a pretty wild night last night. That was a first for you, right?"

"Mmm."

"Right... anyway... umm..." Kagura said as she paused for a bit, apparently taking her time choosing her words wisely. Giving a deep sigh, she continued, "Okay look, Sakaki... The reason I'm calling is to... I want to... apologise."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I've been making calls this morning to you guys saying I'm sorry about... you know... yesterday. I've been feeling really bad about what happened and I guess Yomi had a point in that I maybe kinda _did _ruin everybody's fun. I... I couldn't get to sleep last night, so in between punching my punching bag, I also ended up thinking a lot of what happened, and that... maybe it was me getting a little too carried away there for a moment. And... I said some things that... now that I think of them, were a little over the top and unfair to you guys. And... I just want you to know that your friendships mean so much to me, that I don't want to end up throwing that away... for anything. Therefore I just want to offer my hand in reconciliation. Please... would you accept, Sakaki?" Kagura hurriedly spoke, afraid that she might falter down in face of the person whom she respected perhaps the most out of her friends, the reason she had also left her as the last person in her call list.

Sakaki let out a slight smile, "Kagura... that's very generous of you. I'm glad you have come around and thought about it all to come out and say it. That's very brave of you."

"Well... I guess..." Kagura said slightly embarrassed.

"But you know, it's not really me you should be apologising to," Sakaki said a bit more seriously.

"...Yeah, yeah, I guess so..." Kagura grumbled, "But I'm not sure what that'll accomplish..."

"Kagura... I'm certain Kaori would deeply appreciate if you'd just apologise to her. You know, she was pretty shaken up about it," Sakaki said in as persuasive manner as possible.

"I'm not so sure. Besides, I think she probably hates my guts anyway..." Kagura continued.

"I don't think so. Besides, it would only be right. You did say some pretty nasty things about her and I know for a fact that she's a very nice person, so I'm sure she'd be willing to forgive you too if you just reached out your hand. Please, Kagura?"

"Hmmh... I don't know. I'm still not that convinced she's that great a person you and the others seem to think, Sakaki..." Kagura said.

"Oh, but she is. She even escorted me home last night and gave me a banana shake this morning..."

"She did what?!" Kagura interrupted in bewilderment. "She took you home... and stayed the night?"

"Well... yeah... But that... It just kind of happened..." Sakaki said.

"The gall..." Kagura mumbled.

"It was really completely unintentional! But... I'm glad she did... because she really helped me this morning. I don't think I could have otherwise survived without her here," Sakaki argued, desperately trying to avoid a misunderstanding with Kagura for any reason.

"Hmh..." was all Kagura said about it.

Sakaki was starting to feel the impossibility of the situation again, and she truly hated that Kagura and Kaori didn't seem to get along... more so Kagura, it seemed, than Kaori, but she wasn't sure to what extent this was actually true. And it just felt so disabilitating to not be able to do anything about it. Unless... Sakaki suddenly got a little brainstorm and thought that maybe she could try to persuade Kagura to at least become more tolerating of Kaori, and maybe see about building some kind of a foundation for acceptance. Any kind of acceptance, no matter how slight. But she could not do this on the phone. No, she'd have to get personal with Kagura, and what a better way than to...

"Hey, Kagura. I have an idea. What say you and me go out for a jog... say tomorrow morning?"

"Jog?" Kagura asked curiously. As far as Kagura knew, Sakaki had never voluntarily asked to go jogging before.

"Mmm. I think we could both use some letting off of steam. I hate all this fighting stuff, so I'd really like to clear the air so to speak between us," Sakaki said, hopeful that Kagura'd bite.

"Hmm... well, it _would _be pretty fun I suppose... I like to run. And I do think we could use it... Okay, you're on!" Kagura said.

"Ah, great. I'll meet you tomorrow then. Let's say... around 9 am?" Sakaki said, silently congratulating herself for her ingenuity. _"__Now all I need to do is try to convince Kagura to at least accept Kaori in some way, if not fully...__"_

– O –

_At 1.47 pm, Honda Maeko stands screaming on a chair as a mouse meanders around her kitchen._

_Below her, her neighbour Sakurai Shunsuke beats the roof with a stick, complaining of noisy neighbours._

_

* * *

Well, with this and the last chapter, for those of you still not in the know what drinking is like, I__'__d say these should give you a pretty good idea. Particularly you might want to try and avoid doing a Sakaki in your first go, for I assure you, no matter how fun it is to do at the time, the next morning (and most likely the whole day, depending on the level of drink) will be a nightmare if you don__'__t take care or treat it somehow. And it is a guarantee that you _will _throw up eventually. Also blackouts can happen (I had one myself where I left a bar and woke up at home, completely missing the time from between). As to the beginning part of this chapter, it kind of just wrote itself. I didn__'__t mean to get that deep into Sakaki__'__s past, but it made for a nice little character sketch anyway, that could have worked as a oneshot all on its own._

_But anyway, happy past-Christmas (scheduling problems forced me to get this done too late for Christmas proper) and happy New Year! Next chapter will appear somewhere around 2009. See ya!_


	14. The Great Explorers

_Okay, I will freely admit that I know next to nothing of actual astronomy, but I don't feel like training myself to become an astronomer or becoming some great physics major, so a lot of what I talk about here and in the future regarding the matter most likely won't bear that much affinity to the real profession and a lot of the factual stuff appearing I'm just pulling out of my ass. Therefore take it as such, a work of fiction, and you'll do better than trying to pick holes in my hole-filled explanations that to any real physicists will sound utterly childish (if any are reading this story). I'm just trying to at least make it sound cool enough to be believable on some infinitesimal level. So, please cut me some slack on this regard._

_

* * *

_

_Just where that star above__  
Shines with a cold, dispassionate smile –__  
If in the flesh I'd travel there,  
How many, many a mile!_

_If this, my soul, should be__  
Unprisoned from its earthly bond,__  
Time could not count its markless flight  
Beyond that star, beyond!_

– _William Stanley Braithwaite_

_

* * *

On Friday, June 6th, 2014, at 11.30 am, a particularly strong gust of wind tips over a garbage can._

– O –

The ensuing week had been one of extreme preoccupation for Kaori. After the shocking news Shibuchi had given her last Sunday, Kaori had been hard at work at the observatory, pouring over star charts, photographs, theories, analysis, barely ever being able to calm down long enough to have much sleep, or really even eat that much. In short, the whole issue had thrown her entire life into unstoppable turmoil and all the old theories and conclusions she had reached had been thrown in the garbage bin to be replaced by a bevy of new ones that took into consideration a lot of the sudden past developments.

For the past five, long years now, Kaori had been greatly involved with a particular research project of her own that she was conducting as her postdoc dissertation. For the space of that five years, it had pretty much been the only thing that had been orbiting her mind, which more than anything also had to do with that Kaori didn't really _have_ anything else in her life to distract herself from it, whether it was a relationship or general socialising past a few times she still met friends like Chihiro and Yomi. It involved the curious, and rather striking, anomaly of a group of three individual stars moving at exactly the same velocity and distance from one another, but which were all on an apparently homogeneous orbit to coincide with a perfect and extremely rare alignment within only a few months from that moment, a perfect trinity in form.

To this startling space coincidence Kaori had chanced to stumble on while doing her routinely comparisons of star charts during her early postdoc days and the discovery of which had almost given her an aneurysm once she spotted this extremely rare occurrence, the scenario of which was something she had never in her wildest dreams ever even dared to think up. And it certainly was no less of a shock to her to discover that nobody else had seemed to notice the same even with much greater chances, better equipment, larger budgets and more capable teams. It just seemed so fantastic that an unknown Japanese postdoc student who wasn't even a full astronomer yet had seemingly caught something on her own that even such entities as NASA had not found. It was like a dream... a dream she had had many times before about discovering something new from her beloved stars, and now this dream was about to become a reality without her having to wait to the twilight of her life for it to come true. Even if she might not actually get any credit for it, her being only a student still.

For her own pleasure, though, she had coined the anomaly as the "Triad", and it had caught enough wind to make it a project title.

For the administrative side, the discovery had been so great, that the professor in charge of supervising Kaori had given full priority to her research above what would have usually been considered only as secondary in importance. But then again, it was unlikely that such an extraordinary occurrence would not come again with any regularity, so understandably the entire TAO observatory was more than excited about the project of their junior protegée. But none of course were likely to be more excited than Kaori, to whom this had become more like her own baby that she wanted to see mature and come to fruition as a remarkable chapter in the history of astronomy. And she had taken great care in all her research and calculations that she knew everything was accurate and factually correct...

Or at least those were what Kaori steadily believed in had it not been for the completely baffling and unexplainable fact that the stars had now suddenly picked up speed at an increasingly accelerated rate and were now only a little over a week from reaching culmination point within the range of this increase in velocity. And Kaori for one was utterly spent in trying to properly understand why this was happening so unexpectedly.

"Mou! I just don't get this! This is going too much against the laws of physics," Kaori lamented.

"Well... if you still don't want to buy my gravity theory, then how about... optical illusion," Shibuchi said next to her.

Kaori gave a cold and unhumorous look, "'Optical illusion?' Really?"

"Hey, just trying to help," Shibuchi said defensively.

"There's still no reason to get silly about it," Kaori said, turning her gaze back at her computer screen, being too tired and frustrated to be in a joking mood.

"Well, considering you've been beating yourself to death about this, a little levity is never out of place," Shibuchi offered with a smirk.

"Yes... and I know you love to joke, but you could at least wait until I was in a better mood to digest that sort of material," Kaori mumbled, leaning back in her chair, and glancing back at Shibuchi, "And it's not as if I don't think the gravity theory is not plausible, but this kind of attraction of three completely separate projectiles... they are moving way too methodically on a seemingly pre-fixed orbit to make such an attraction impossible."

"Why?" Shibuchi questioned.

"Imagine the gravity field that would require for it to work. I know that's how multi-star systems usually work, but those stars are not that far away from our own solar system and they're very far away from one another on seemingly unrelated orbits. If anything, I'd expect there'd to be some... central gravitational field on which these orbits are balanced on and there just doesn't seem to be any such equilibrium marker... at least not that I've found yet. These projectiles move too methodically, separate yet together, and now completely unorthodoxly... I can't just lay it all down on simple 'gravity'." Kaori answered.

"You really believe in that? Thinking stars? Sounds like rather a wild theory, particularly coming from you," Shibuchi laughed.

"I admit, it is a bit of a stretch, but just look at how massive the orbit is on these," Kaori said as she pointed to her screen, "What I've been charting, the records go back decades and these three have not even done a full elliptical circle yet as far as I can tell. They've just now been getting to this point. Who knows how long they have travelled to reach this juncture of their path now."

"I'll admit it's hard to digest as is, but so far I can't see anything else making that much sense here... unless you have some ace up your sleeve, that is," Shibuchi noted.

"But I know where to look," Kaori said with a smile.

"You do?"

"Perhaps... But I'm not willing to share yet," Kaori teased.

"Of course. I wouldn't expect Aida Kaori-sama the Magnificent to so easily descend to the realm of us mere mortal astronomers. I am simply honoured to bask in your radiance, oh protegée astronomer with the amazing doctorate papers, and feast on the crumbs you see fit to throw at us inferior beings," Shibuchi recited in an operatic manner.

"And you're always as ridiculously over-dramatic to fantasise in a scientific environment the most imaginative scenarios," Kaori laughed back. "But if we were to go down the road of fantastic fantasies, you want to hear a wild stab in the dark instead?"

"Shoot."

"Ever heard of the Star of Bethlehem?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"According to myth, it was supposedly a bright star that led the three Magi to the place where Jesus Chirst was born, essentially the hand of God pointing out where His son had come down to the land of mortals."

"I know. Go on."

"But what would you say if I – hypothetically – stated that these three stars... were in fact the Star of Bethlehem?"

"I'd say you're joking," Shibuchi said in without a moment's hesitation.

"Would I be?"

"...You're not serious... are you?" Shibuchi asked bewildered. This was not like Kaori Aida at all. This was way too fanciful to come from her mouth. She was always so scientific about all of this stuff.

"Mmm... Like I said... a wild stab in the dark," Kaori said with a shrug.

"Really wild..."

"I'm not saying it's true. Just another theory. To test the type of fantasmogorical hypothesis you're often so fond of."

"You know even I know the difference between theory and flight of fancy," Shibuchi said in amusement.

"But just as well, doesn't mean it couldn't be possible in a hypothetical world where there's no facts to disprove otherwise. After all, who knows whether something like this didn't take place already over 2000 years ago when people were more inclined to take things based on 'fate' alone. It just seemed more like a miracle of God when people lived in general ignorance," Kaori said matter-of-factly.

"Possible, but... are you seriously going to pursue that mode of thought?"

"Ha! If you think I'd take _that _to the board, then you're freaking out of your mind. But there's no harm in a little off-the-books theorising, is there?" Kaori smiled back, starting to loosen up a bit from her frustrations.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Which probably means I'm just starting to rub off on you."

"Science forbid!" Kaori said horrified.

"Ha ha! And now that you're in such a susceptible mood, I actually have this really cool new one that proves unicorns once existed. You want to hear it?" Shibuchi said faux-excited.

"No."

"Aww... why not?" Shibuchi feigned disappointment.

"Cause as far as I'm concerned unicorns are just regular horses with a horn glued to their heads. And I don't excite over animals," Kaori gave her studious, but still lighthearted enough reply, though inwardly adding _"But I think I might know somebody who would be interested..."_

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Shibuchi laughed.

"Aida-senpai?" suddenly came a light female voice behind them, interrupting the musings of the two colleagues. "I have the spectrograph hardcopies you requested, Aida-senpai."

"Ah, thank you, Nagato-san," Kaori said to the young apprentice girl with the light brown hair standing blushing next to her as she took the files.

"Ah, it's no problem! Happy to have been of an assistance to Aida-senpai," Nagato said apparently over-joyed.

"Uh, Nagato-san... I've already told you before you don't have to call me 'senpai'. I rather not be viewed like that in my own group," Kaori said with an embarrassed smile.

"Ah, but Aida-senpai is Aida-senpai, and demands respect. Not to call senpai 'senpai' would just be rude and impolite. Therefore Aida-senpai must always be Aida-senpai, because anything else would just not do and I'd just die!" Nagato rambled as her blush grew bigger and bigger.

Kaori sighed deep, but decided that there was no point in trying to pursue the matter any further, "All right, do as you please."

"Thank you, Aida-senpai! It is an honour to be thus indulged," Nagato nervously responded with a bow as she hurried away to her other duties out of fear that she might just pass out at any moment.

Kaori and Shibuchi just watched after her a bit, before Shibuchi amusedly smirked, "She sure has a thing for you, doesn't she, senpai?"

"Astronomy fangirls... the world is full of surprises," Kaori said as she turned her attention to the spectrograph with a deep sigh, "I still don't get this sudden acceleration. It's almost like the closer they get, the more they are pulled together."

"Gravity theory?" Shibuchi hazarded.

"Objects like this don't just accelerate on a moments notice. This is a difference of at least a couple of thousand parsecs from the very strict and equalised velocity they've been traveling at for centuries most likely. Now they suddenly change their modus operandi. It's as if they are being pulled together like a magnet to that one specific point of perfect alignment, and the closer they get, the stronger the pull is. It's incredible," Kaori said.

"Gravity theory, again," Shibuchi smugly said.

"If I say 'good boy', will you stop pointing that out?" Kaori said in frustration.

"Buy me dinner," he suggested.

"I'll buy you an ice cream."

"Raspberry chocolate?"

"Yes."

"...Okay, it's a deal. I'm easily bribed."

"Yes I know," Kaori finished and both fell into silence as Kaori started going through her analysis and Shibuchi focused on his own part of the research in trying to calculate the Triad's orbital ellipsis.

The following 15 minutes went by largely in silence with only the clicking of keypads and a few sparse words being the only things to disturb the otherwise silent working environment. These were the moments that everybody had come to refer to as the contemplative periods in which their leader would pretty much clam up entirely and, unless the matter was of the utmost importance, any additional interruption would cause the usually friendly and affable Aida-san to turn into a very scary person. For her, when it came to serious work, that work required the most rapt attention and there was no justification in uncalled for interruptions. Therefore the almost church-like calmness went on in a meditative peace of scholarly introspection without break.

That is until this silence was interrupted by the familiar tune of Neptune coming out of Kaori's phone, causing the woman to jolt back out of the starscapes with a start.

"Agh! Who the hell is calling me now?" she irritably growled, hating to have been interrupted like this when she was in the 'zone', and bitingly answered the phone without even seeing who was calling, "Speak!"

"_Wow, now that's a nice way to answer,"_ a familiar and cheerful voice came from the other end.

As fast as her irritation had come, so did it fall from her as if from a magic strike, "Oh... Chihiro. S-sorry about that..."

"Did I get you at a bad time?" her best friend since childhood asked lightly.

"Ah... oh, well I was just... umm... a little preoccupied with something," Kaori answered a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah, with the star thing, right?" Chihiro asked as she knew her friend rarely behaved like that if it didn't concern her work somehow.

"...Yes. The star thing," she answered a bit jaggedly, not really liking Chihiro's wordings when it came to her profession.

"I thought you were still supposed to be on holiday," Chihiro wondered.

"Yes, I was, but I had to cut it short. Some more pressing matters took hold of me. So what's up?"

"Oh, nothing really. I got the rest of the day off from work, and I just thought that I haven't seen you in a while, so I just thought about calling you and asking if you'd maybe like to join me for lunch or something. You know, just to catch up on things," Chihiro said.

"Lunch?" Kaori asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it's nothing big or anything. It's just been a while and I haven't had the time to come see you for so long, so... I suppose I've just... kinda missed you a bit. But I guess if you're too busy..." Chihiro said with a disappointed tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I am rather busy, that's true..." Kaori responded unsurely.

"Yeah, sure. I understand. So... I suppose if you really can't make it, we can always take a raincheck, and we'll just do it some other time. I mean, that's just fine by me. After all, it's not like this is the only time I'm going to get free time like this..." Chihiro proposed, though still sounding rather pathetic.

"Yeah... well..." Kaori drawled. God she hated it when Chihiro got like that. She swore that sometimes it felt almost deliberate how Chihiro managed to make her feel guilty when there was no reason to be guilty of anything. She'd just always adopt that dejected and sad tone, and that was always enough to break Kaori down within a manner of seconds. "Hey, you know, Chihiro... Now that I think about it, it is only a little over 12. And... I suppose I can always work on this later... I mean, I guess I could actually use a break and air my head of this a little anyway... So... maybe I could meet you for a lunch..."

"You will? That's great," Chihiro said cheerily, with no trace of her past melancholy evident. "So, I'll see you in a few minutes, if you could pick me up from my workplace, that'd be great."

"Yeah, sure..." Kaori answered.

"Great. Zee yuu thenne," Chihiro chirpily finished in heavily accented English.

"_Incredible. She did it to me again! Why am I so easily manipulated..." _Kaori silently mused as she got up and threw her white labcoat off. "I'll be gone a couple of hours. If you really need to get a hold of me, I have my phone with me."

"You're leaving? In the middle of the research?" Shibuchi asked incredulously.

"I'll be back in a while. Besides, the stars aren't going anywhere... this time I hope. But should the universe start to implode while I'm gone, do let me know so I don't accidentally miss it," Kaori quipped as she jumped down the stairs and out of the workroom.

"Ah, Aida-senpai is _so _witty!!!" Nagato happily enthused.

"Yeah, a regular Akashiya Sanma," Shibuchi murmured.

– O –

Seated down on the terrace of a quaint little streetside café, Kaori and Chihiro both took a calming sip of their coffees as they waited for their special bistro sandwiches. They had settled on this place for the delicious and filling food that they served, which was one of Chihiro's proudest discoveries in a city that was over-flowing with similar types of places on every street corner. And combined with the surroundings of the café overlooking a calm street with a little plaza in the middle, the effect was most charming and perfect for an intimate little rendezvous.

Kaori and Chihiro had remained on close terms even after getting to the normal bustles of life and career, as having shared a friendship ever since they were very young, it was not really something that was easily broken. In effect, Chihiro was in many ways the closest person in Kaori's life still and Kaori was always grateful to have that one person in her life that in her own way kept life from becoming a stream of loneliness and self-doubt. Chihiro was somebody she could trust and confide in – from whom she could find a sympathetic listener, or even a shoulder to cry on if she needed it. Chihiro was the first person she had told about her gender preferences, and had told her about Sakaki. She was also the only one Kaori could have faith in as to never abandoning her, which was one of the key reasons for her to cling on to this friendship more than she would on any other. And Chihiro felt very much the same. She even had Kaori act as her maid of honor when she married her high school sweetheart Ohyama Masaaki, and had named her first born as Kaori out of deference to the closeness the two girls shared.

Of course on the flip side, Chihiro knew Kaori so well that she knew exactly what buttons she needed to push in order to make Kaori do what she wanted her to... which usually consisted in making Kaori feel terrible about herself. But if it accomplished a goal, then Chihiro was fine in using these butch tactics. And once more it had secured Kaori's company that otherwise wouldn't have been forthcoming, as Chihiro well knew when it came to the astronomical motivator. And she certainly didn't miss the mark on that one as Kaori had already rather excitedly filled Chihiro in on the "most spectacular astronomical event since the discovery of the Hubble Constant", a lot of it what Chihiro didn't really understand, but decided to play along so as to not hurt her friend's feelings. Thankfully Kaori hadn't noticed and once they reached their destination, the subject matter quickly changed to other avenues of interest.

"So... how's life at your end?" Kaori asked as she leaned forward on the table.

"Good, good. I've been doing well at the office lately. So far so, that I'm thinking that a promotion to head campaign designer might not be that far off," Chihiro said proudly.

"Congratulations! It's about time too. You've worked more than hard on those soap ads lately that you certainly deserve more recognition," Kaori said genuinely happy for her friend.

"They're 'beauty product' ads. And yeah, I've been waiting for the opportunity to really show what I'm capable of and now that it came, I've been really putting all in. And lucky me the suits have noticed, too. I think from now on my career will just sky rocket," Chihiro continued.

"Good, good... And Masaaki-kun is okay with you becoming more of a bigshot than he is?" Kaori mischievously asked.

"Ah, Massu-kun will just have to deal with it, cause I'm not giving up on this one. Not that he probably wouldn't want me to become a housewife with him getting all the income, but his salary as an accountant isn't nearly as good as what I'm making at Tobon. Besides I'd rather provide a well-off life for the kids instead of having to settle for scraps," Chihiro explained.

"Must still eat at his manhood at least a little," Kaori mentioned.

"Nah, he fully supports me. And if I get this promotion, I think I've got everything made for a good life. Massu-kun is enough of a realist to see the benefits here so that it doesn't bother him... much. And certainly the out-of-date social rules are just a step away from being abolished anyway, so there wouldn't be any need for him to feel inadequate," Chihiro assured.

"Well, you certainly have confidence, I'll give you that. And speaking of Masaaki-kun, how're the kids doing?" Kaori asked.

"Oh, they're getting along just wonderful. Kaori's just about ready to start elementary school this fall, and Hideaki is active like a rabbit on an electrical wire. Seriously, sometimes I wonder if he's got some of Tomo's genes in him."

"That's almost a frightening thought in itself," Kaori joked.

"I know. It's almost scary how much energy that boy has. But he'll grow out of it eventually. He _is _only four after all."

"Mmm... Guess so. And jeez, I didn't even realise Kaori was already that old to be starting school. It seems only yesterday than she was still a little wrapped up package in your arms."

"Yeah, it's miraculous how the years just seem to fly by. I can barely grasp at how fast everything seems to be going. Couple of years from now, we'll probably be just old grannies sitting on a porch and complaining how everything was better in the good old times," Chihiro laughed.

"Speak for yourself. I'm not planning on growing old just yet," Kaori smirked back.

"Well, so you say, but you know you're not getting any younger either."

"Of course, but as long as you don't acknowledge it, the less likely you will feel like getting old."

"Those are the wise philosophical words of the eminent scientist Aida Kaori, huh?" Chihiro sarcastically asked.

"No. Those are the words of just plain ol' Aida Kaorin who enjoys the occasional romanticist viewpoint from time to time," Kaori said with a smile.

"Ah, I see. You almost had me going there for a minute. I don't see the other side of you that often, so I'd be more inclined to take what ever you say for granted."

"You want me to be more scientific, then?"

"Heaven forbid! I'll take the old you any day of the week. Which by the way is a side you should allow out more often than you do. Seriously, sometimes you tend to over-analyze everything to the point of being ridiculous. It makes me almost want to sing Hallelujah every time you don't start acting like a computer."

"I'm not that bad... Really Chihiro, if I'm supposedly all that, then that'd make you in turn the queen of over-exaggeration."

"Ah, but even you should admit that your views on everything have changed a lot over the years. Like how you used to consider stars as some romantic getaway that were epitomised by poetry and love. And now it's all just so technical to you."

"Well, people change. And real astronomy has nothing to do with my older fanciful ideals, so I think it's only natural that my point of view has evolved at the same time. It's the same as if I had instead decided to become a poet. Then most likely my perception would have been fueled more by emotional considerations instead of scientific. Doesn't mean that one or the other makes me somehow a worse person."

"Yeah, I know, I know, but it's still kinda sad. And please don't take it the wrong way or anything, but... at times it just feels like... like you've sacrificed your heart to become some model example of aloofness."

"Sacrificed my heart? What exactly do you mean by that?" Kaori said a bit edgily.

"Oh no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Chihiro quickly defended. "I didn't mean to imply that you're heartless or anything. I was just thinking that maybe you're... that is... that it's as if you're somehow afraid of showing your emotions and instead hide behind some intellectual rhetoric with the attempt to mask away the fact as to how alone you really are. Or... well... I mean... that's not really it either– –" Chihiro trailed off.

Kaori said nothing, and simply gazed at Chihiro as if in trying to read her mind to see where exactly she was going with all of this.

"...That is I mean... that is that you should just open your heart out some more... or... well... that maybe... ummm... That you just seem a little lonely... or well... that I'm just concerned... is all... and–" Chihiro stammered some more before silencing herself once more, now getting the distinct feel that she may have just overstepped her boundaries with Kaori, who was more sensitive than she was often given credit for.

This feeling was only reinforced as Kaori seemed to descend into some gloomy introspective mode all of a sudden, not saying anything back as she usually would have. It made Chihiro really nervous as she never quite knew what was going to happen with her neurotic and at times overly-sensitive friend. Certainly Chihiro had come to know just about all the possibilities of Kaori's reactions, but the trick was always the complete unpredictableness of her friend's sudden swings of mood that could go down any which one direction... and which admittedly made life a lot more exciting when dealing with the stargazer.

"Sorry," Chihiro finally managed to meekly say. "I was out of line."

"Hmm? Oh, it's... perfectly all right," Kaori quietly said.

"No. I really went a little too far. I mean, I'm your friend, but it's really out of line for me to try and dictate how you should live your life."

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Kaori said reassuringly.

"I'm just looking out for your best interests, that's all," Chihiro said still somewhat apologetically.

"Yeah, well... that seems to be really popular right now," Kaori said off-hand.

"Sorry?" Chihiro asked curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just seems that lately everybody's suddenly become more interested in my well-being than ever before for whatever reason... There's you, of course. Then Yomi's started at it again. And now Osaka curiously enough, too. As well as Sakaki-san..." Kaori numerated.

"Excuse me?!" Chihiro interrupted incredulously. "W-what did you just say? Cause it sounded like you just said Sakaki-san."

Kaori gave a long stare before answering, "Oh, yes. I haven't told you yet, have I?"

"Told me what?"

"Well, guess whom I happened to bump into last week? None other than Sakaki-san... or well, rather she bumped into me is more like it."

"Bumped... into you? As in...?"

"Yep. Mowed me down on the street when I was coming out of the post office," Kaori said with a mild blush as she remembered the scene.

"Well... that must've been... awkward," Chihiro hazarded, being a little hesitant in entering a conversation about the ever dream-like and fantastic Sakaki-san, that had nearly caused her friend to falter over the precipice all those years ago.

"Awkward? I'd say. Though that really was nothing compared to what happened after that," Kaori continued.

"Oh? Can't imagine what'd be more awkward that meeting the person you had a crush on just like that out cold."

"Well... you might want to make yourself comfortable. This... may take a while..." Kaori said with a heavy breath as she began her recounting of everything that had happened to since her meeting again with Sakaki around a week ago.

Over the next 30 minutes or so, Kaori went through everything, from her visit to Sakaki's house, the various accidents she experienced while there, Sakaki appearing at her doorstep to return her purse – as Kaori was simply too embarrassed to give out the real reason – and her subsequent invitation for the gathering, the various misfortunes that befell her over the course of the day, Sakaki's intentions, the fight with Kagura and the following divisions, Sakaki's wild time at the bars, and then ending her recounting with her waking up on Sakaki's bed.

– "Okay, so let me get this straight... Kagura hates you, Yomi and Osaka want you to get together with _Sakaki_, and Sakaki wants to make you her _friend_. Is that about the general gist of it?" Chihiro finally asked.

"In a nutshell... that's about it," Kaori said seemingly a bit tired.

"Wow... you've certainly been up to a lot behind my back," Chihiro wondered.

"Tell me about it..."

"So... how's all that working out for you?"

"How do you think? At the beginning of last week, I still had a pretty decent life going for me. And now all of a sudden I have all this thrust into it without me even asking for it. I mean, is there some kind of a golden rule that says 'Aida Kaori's life must not be simple but must be of incessant torment'? I really don't understand why this stuff just always seems to happen to me," Kaori finished slightly bitter.

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse."

"Hehe... Well, at least it's good to see some things never change," Chihiro lightly chuckled.

Kaori shot a glare at her friend, "You find my misery somehow amusing?"

"Oh, no no! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that regardless how much you've changed over the years, some things still have remained constant. Like how you still over-exaggerate and blow things out of proportion. Like the whole Sakaki deal. I mean seriously, aren't you taking things a little too hard here? It's really not that bad of a situation is it?" Chihiro asked.

Kaori just sighed deeply, "You know, it's not really Sakaki herself that worries me more than what she represents."

"Represents?"

"Yes. That feeling that won't leave me alone no matter how much I want it to."

"What are you talking about, Kaorin?"

"Fear. Chihiro, I... I'm... I'm afraid," Kaori said quietly.

"Afraid?" Chihiro asked with slight wonder.

"Afraid that... whatever I once felt towards her back then will return. Afraid that if they do I may be caught in her vortex again. Afraid that if I allow something like that to happen, this time I might not be able to get back out again. It took me years to forget about Sakaki the first time around. It lasted years for me to be able to function somewhat normally again, and get my life back in control. But now... I... I don't know what'll happen. At least back then Sakaki didn't even notice me, but what now? I mean, she's even been giving me calls the whole week long. This has all the makings of a classic disaster á la Kaorin," Kaori lamented.

"Aren't you being a bit... dramatic there?" Chihiro said.

"You remember what it was like before?" Kaori asked as she looked directly at Chihiro.

"Oh, yeah... Yeah, I remember..." Chihiro said, recollecting how it seemed like her friend had started to change shortly after starting high school and how she had over time become seemingly more and more nervous and detached, isolated in her own thoughts and at times almost unable to free herself from the mental images of the raven-haired goddess named simply as Sakaki-san. Chihiro had witnessed Kaori's steady decline, and even if Kaori didn't show it too much on the outside, Chihiro knew her best friend inside and out to know better. And later on, when confronted on the issue, Kaori had finally told Chihiro what Sakaki meant to her, and how she made her feel, but while so doing also showing the conflicting thoughts that on the one hand told of her want to get closer to Sakaki, while at the other to remain on the other side of the line that shouldn't be crossed. But as much as she wanted to do something, Chihiro didn't know how to be of assistance to her friend and thus settled to be more of a comforting pillow more than anything else.

And, of course, once high school had ended, Kaori had almost completely shut down for weeks... Her mother had even taken her to a doctor, where she was simply diagnosed as having suffered some kind of a post-stress depression, brought out by the sudden end of a phase in her educational cycle, but Chihiro knew better... not that she'd have ever told anyone and betrayed the intrinsic trust Kaori had in her.

This wasn't something Chihiro wanted to see happen again, and she couldn't really argue against Kaori's assertion as to the potential risks involved in this type of sudden closer relationship that Sakaki seemingly was now after, but at the same time she couldn't help but think that maybe it could actually help Kaori to confront her dreads and perhaps give her life back the balance between the scientist and the human being, the latter that she was desperately in need of more.

"Well... you know you don't really _need _to be her friend, don't you?" Chihiro said after a small pause.

"What...?"

"I mean, if you really feel so strongly about this, then you can always just walk away, no harm done," Chihiro elaborated, hoping to see some kind of a reaction to confirm a suitable path for her to explore.

"Don't you think I've tried that? I have tried to get out. I've tried leaving, and I've tried ignoring Sakaki and her requests, and I've tried being cool about it, and..." Kaori vehemently responded.

"So what's the problem?" Chihiro interrupted.

"That's just it... I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's like... like my brain tells me to stay away and not have anything to do with Sakaki, yet my mouth says the exact opposite things. I... I just can't help it. It just happens." Kaori said helplessly.

"You certainly love making things difficult for yourself, don't you?" Chihiro said with a headshake.

"What? Are you somehow trying to imply that I'm doing this on purpose?" Kaori asked a bit venomously.

"What if you are? What if... you're just trying to tell yourself that you don't want to be near Sakaki in order to bring some kind of a reassurance to yourself that you know you are acting like you shouldn't, but without you even consciously realising it, you're acting in a completely opposite way because that's what you really want. Like some kind of whacked up reverse psychology," Chihiro suggested.

"Huh? Umm... Are you really being... serious there?" Kaori asked a bit doubtful.

"Well, why not? Sounds like a perfectly plausible explanation to me," Chihiro shrugged.

Kaori wasn't as reassured about this as she simply humphed.

"You don't buy that?" Chihiro asked in mock-offense.

"Chihiro... to think that I'd succumb to psychological polar tricks like that is just... well, absurd!" Kaori said in amusement.

"Then why don't you just blow off Sakaki and say you don't want to be her friend. Or better yet tell her that you hate her. Then you don't have to worry about any of this stuff anymore," Chihiro concluded.

"What?! Blow off Sakaki-san? _And _say that I _hate _her?! Are you nuts!? How can you even suggest such a thing?! How can anybody say no to that face? Or... or be mean to her? And when she's trying to be so nice and really wants to be a friend! That... That's just not how things are done, do you hear me!? And another thing... ummm... that is... uhhh... oh..." Kaori outraged before realising what she was saying.

"And I rest my case," Chihiro simply said.

"Oh, fine... maybe you have a point..." Kaori huffed while crossing her arms. "But in either case, there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it."

Chihiro simple giggled, "Oh, Kaorin. Sometimes you're just too cute."

"Uh... Ou-kay... Whatever you say," Kaori said in confusion. "But anyway, it still doesn't make me very comfortable with this whole Sakaki issue. It's as if part of me is telling me how much of a bad idea this is... but then the other half at the same time kind of really... _wants_ me to spend time with Sakaki. And I just... don't know what'll happen to me. Tell me, do _you _think I'm making the right decision here?" Kaori pleaded.

"You know I wish I could, but I guess the only way you'll find out is to just see where it goes yourself," Chihiro said.

"Mmm... I suppose so," Kaori said as she glanced down on the ground clearly a bit worried.

"But hey, Kaorin. If anything bad _should_ happen for any reason... you know I'll always be right there for you. All you need to do is give me a call and I'll be right there. Okay?" Chihiro gently smiled.

Kaori turned her gaze back to Chihiro, and could feel her momentary bout of desolation start to melt away. Indeed, Chihiro seemed to know Kaori through and through, as Kaori herself noted. It didn't need much from her to get Kaori feeling considerably better and more at peace with herself. It was truly hard to believe, but Kaori certainly welcomed it fully.

"Thanks, Chihiro. I appreciate the thought," Kaori smiled, and added, "Oh, and I'm still happy for your upcoming promotion... that is, you really sure you'll actually get it?"

"Agh, don't jinx it, Kaorin! You know talk like that will just bring Murphy's Law into effect," Chihiro anxiously said.

"Heh, you know I don't believe in such things, Chihiro," Kaori laughed. "And you shouldn't either."

"Yeah, well, I want this promotion, and I want to play everything as safe as I can. That includes jinxing it," Chihiro said.

"All right, all right. If it's so important to you. And just for the record, I do think you'll get it too. If you don't, it'll just be a big waste of material," Kaori told her.

"Well thanks a bunch for that, Kaorin," Chihiro laughed as the two finished up their bread in a general air of amicability.

– O –

"Mmm... that should about do it," Sakaki said to herself as she was preparing to leave for home from her beloved pet shop.

Sakaki was rightfully very proud of her little boutique, and how it had managed to offer her a livelihood that was both enjoyable and animalitarian at the same time. She had for the past nine years now been steadily building her store to be one of the most respectable and, above all, humane pet shops in Tokyo, which to Sakaki's great consternation often left a lot to be desired. She had always felt so awful in seeing some other shops that stacked animals in cages with no regard to their well-being, and the store keepers didn't usually really seem to care much at all about their merchandise outside of the money incurred from them.

It had been one of Sakaki's specific goals to not go down the road of so many other such shops, and she had always tried to give the animals in her charge the very best conditions and care she could. It had not been easy at first as business wasn't exactly booming, but little by little the popularity of her little shop, with its reputation for a clean, cozy atmosphere and polite service, had begun to get wind and within five years her shop had become profitable enough for her to make it all that she wanted it to be. She had even been able to hire an assistant, which gave her a lot more freedom to do things outside of just minding the store that wasn't really an option before this.

Taking one last look around to see that everything was all right, and nothing had been forgotten, Sakaki bid her animals a good night, locked the door securely with the alarm set for any possible intruders, and began her trek toward her home, which was situated a good five kilometers away.

But the distance didn't really bother Sakaki as she enjoyed the leisurely walk. And particularly as she didn't have any specific need to go to the grocery store that day either, she simply took her time to enjoy the warm summer breeze, the blazing sun, the blue skies, and the happiness that was stirring inside of her. And what more, it always gave her mind a sense of meditative peace that allowed her to go through a lot of different issues, from small everyday preponderances to even larger philosophical questions.

But unlike on a lot of her walks, as she that day started on her journey home, her mind turned back to events of a couple of days ago and, in particular, to the question of her yet incomplete mission of befriending the stargirl Kaori into her integrated set of friends. It was something that was currently in her top list of priorities... though granted her list of priorities wasn't really all that extensive to begin with and most of those matters revolved around her store. But the fact remained that Sakaki had not seen the girl since last Sunday morning, and any opportunity to suggest a new meet had thus far been unsuccessful. She had tried calling her a every day, but the answer always seemed to be either "I'm too busy", or "Sorry, but today's just not really good", or "I can't make it", or "Can we do that some other time". Sakaki, of course, understood that Kaori most likely was a very busy woman, and there was likely no other reason for her to blow Sakaki off each time like that, but it didn't change the fact that each rejection had made her feel a bit despondent.

But then again, what could she do? Tell Kaori to drop whatever she was doing and come to meet her so that she could indulge in some kind of an ego trip? No, that was certainly not what Sakaki was all about. She would just have to try again, and maybe she would have better success... particularly as the weekend was again nigh. Maybe Sakaki would hit it lucky this time.

And then, of course, there was still the whole issue with Kagura...

– O –

_Monday, June 2nd, 2014, 9.47 am._

Sakaki and Kagura had been out at it for a good thirty minutes already, steadily jogging through the still quiet streets of Tokyo's less busy parts. To Sakaki's great happiness, Kagura had agreed to the "making-up jog" that she had proposed... regardless of the covert motives Sakaki also entertained at the same time.

But even then, it just felt good to be on friendly relations with Kagura, and to see that the events of Saturday might not have been as irrevocable as they had felt at the time. It was only unfortunate that Kagura didn't seem to like Kaori. Otherwise everything would have been so much more simple. And the greatest problem in Sakaki's perception was simply the over-flowing self-confidence and pride that characterised Kagura. Sakaki loved her friend dearly, but at times her unyielding attitude and point-blank refusal to admit to having been in the wrong – let alone changing her opinion – were at times frustrating to Sakaki.

For the amount of the jog, the two had not spoken a lot, and even Kagura seemed to be in a quiet mood, which knowing Kagura was very unusual. Obviously she was still smarting over the past Saturday. Having had enough of the quiet, and wanting to have a little private talk with Kagura to begin with, Sakaki made the decision to stop for a while.

"Hey, Kagura," she breathed out heavily, "Mind if we take a small breather?"

Kagura gave her an odd sideways glance, but accepted the proposition with a slight "Sure."

Taking a seat down on a near by bench, Sakaki pretended for a while to be exhausted, though in reality due to her stronger lung capacity, she could take a lot more than what she had just been through. But for the sake of show, she decided to play a bit first so as to not seem suspicious.

"Whew... We've really taken it up a notch, haven't we? I'm exhausted," Sakaki said amid heavy breaths.

"Yeah... guess so," Kagura said as detached as before.

"_She's not suspicious, is she?" _Sakaki internally thought, but decided to push forward regardless of possibly ending up being told out, "Yeah, the sweat's really flying now."

Sakaki could have just kicked herself on her hiney as she seriously was not good at lying, or even play-acting, and what she had just said sounded so unbelievably awful she couldn't even begin to say. Thankfully Kagura didn't seem to notice Sakaki's uncharacteristic behaviour and simply nodded in silence.

Having had enough of even trying to dodge Kagura's possible suspicions and simply wanting to get down to her dejected behaviour, Sakaki decided to just openly approach her, "Kagura? Are you all right?"

Kagura shot her head toward Sakaki and gave out a simple "Huh?"

"You've been awfully quiet this whole jog," Sakaki clarified.

"Well... it's not really easy to talk when you're running..." Kagura said lightly.

"Well, that hasn't stopped you before," Sakaki pointed out.

"Uh... well... Like you said... we've really been pushing it..." Kagura attempted but Sakaki wasn't buying it.

"You're still upset, aren't you?" she asked.

"Wha? Upset? Me? Why not at all! Not in the slightest," Kagura said boisterously.

Sakaki just sighed, "Kagura... you know, it's just me. You don't have to pretend that nothing's bothering you."

"But nothing _is _bothering me. I'm... I'm perfectly fine, Sakaki," Kagura maintained, though her mask wasn't as complete as she would have wanted it to be.

"Kagura..." Sakaki said a bit more weightily, which was enough for even Kagura to be able to tell that the game was up as she momentarily directed her eyes back to the ground. "Kagura... I'm your friend. And I care about you. So... you know you don't have to pretend as if everything's just fine."

"Well... I don't... you know..." Kagura tried to start but couldn't really go on.

"Kagura, it's all right. You don't have to feel ashamed or try to act strong. I promise, I won't tell a soul. I just want to help you," Sakaki said as reassuringly as she could.

This got Kagura to lift her eyes up to face Sakaki's once more, but still didn't quite know what she should say. Of course, Sakaki was right that she wasn't exactly in the best of spirits, but she wasn't really that used to opening up to others, rather than hiding away behind her tough exterior.

Seeing Kagura's trouble, Sakaki decided to prod Kagura on a bit, "You're still bothered about what happened at the gathering. Bothered that maybe we don't want to be your friends anymore. Bothered that you might have done some things that we can't forgive... Or that you ruined everybody's good time..."

"Didn't I?" Kagura interrupted.

"Well... ummm... well... uh..." Sakaki faltered.

Kagura simply gave a sad nod, "I know... I know I did. I'm... I'm... sorry, Sakaki."

"Uh... Kagura," Sakaki started as she saw Kagura getting seemingly more depressed.

"No, Sakaki. You're right. You don't have to tip toe around me. I know I behaved in a way that I shouldn't have, and... I think what Yomi said... was true. I just... didn't want to fess up to it. But I've given a lot of thought to it since Saturday night and... I don't think I can just brush it under a carpet like a coward or something," Kagura said adamantly, before adding under her breath, "If only that leech hadn't been there..."

Sakaki heard this little addition and quickly admonished Kagura, "Please don't call her that."

Kagura gave a quick glance toward Sakaki, but soon averted her eyes back on the ground again without saying a word. Sakaki gave Kagura a few more seconds to see if she was going to say anything, but as she apparently wasn't, Sakaki decided to push the matter forward as it was perhaps the most important matter she needed Kagura to address for it to be settled, "Kagura... why don't you like Kaori?"

"Why do you?" was the unexpected answer. Sakaki was taken a bit back by the harshness of the tone, which allowed Kagura to continue, "I mean, what does she mean to you? After over ten years she just suddenly reappears in our lives, and you're all gooey-eyed about it. What's that all about?"

"Well... ummm... w-why shouldn't I? S-she's my friend, and... and I'm... just happy to see her again," Sakaki said a bit perturbed by the sudden change in her friend.

"I'll say. So happy that you're behaving like she's your best friend, or something. And you barely even know her. You even invited her along on our special gathering, and then spent most of your time with _her_ instead of _us_! _Us! _The people most closest to you. You even spent nearly an hour alone with her at that temple, and completely blew off everybody else. So really, Sakaki. What's so special about her, huh?" Kagura said vehemently.

Sakaki, not accustomed to these kinds of situations and disliking confrontations with a passion, found herself practically speechless. "I... I just... just wanted... t-to make a... a f-friend..."

"Don't you already have enough friends?" Kagura said assiduously.

That shocked Sakaki, more so because Kagura had always represented to her a bastion of fairness and good sportsmanship. This just didn't sound like Kagura at all. _"Does she... really hate Kaori that much?" _

At the same time, Kagura seemed to once more get a grip of the situation, and was immediately ashamed at her outburst. Sakaki didn't deserve that and most likely Sakaki had never meant any harm to begin with. It was just something that made Kagura snap when it came to Kaorin Aida – something Kagura herself didn't even quite know how to explain to herself. "Sorry," she muttered a short apology, finding it again incredibly hard to look straight to Sakaki.

Sakaki gazed at her friend for a few moments more in quiet contemplation before saying slowly and quietly, "Kagura... I don't know what you find so terrible about Kaori. But please, believe me when I say that Kaori truly is a very good person. Kind, considerate, smart, and just an overall decent person. I... I just wish you could open your heart enough to see that. Please... couldn't you at least try?"

Kagura was silent for a long time, as she pondered on what Sakaki said. Finally she gave a deep sigh and answered, "I'm not sure I can. There's... just something about her that I find... distrustful. Or that she's hiding something. Something she doesn't want others to know, but which is... potentially harmful. I... I just don't want to see any of my friends being hurt... for any reason. And especially I don't want _you_ to end up hurt," Kagura finished as she looked Sakaki straight in the eye.

Sakaki honestly didn't know what to say to this, nor did she really get the chance as Kagura got up from the bench. "We should get going again. We've been resting long enough that our muscles are starting to relax."

Sakaki knew that she would not get any further in this conversation, and complying, the two women once again continued on their jog in general silence.

– O –

_Present day_

Sakaki hadn't spoken with Kagura again since that day, but her words kept haunting in her head. What could she have meant with "hiding" something harmful? Sakaki just couldn't fathom where this dislike of Kagura's was really stemming from and it pained her to think that any kind of reconciliation between the two antagonists seemed to be slipping away moment by moment.

Reaching her house, Sakaki decided to push back those thoughts for the time being, and instead indulged on cuddling with Maya as a means of a cute stress relief. While so preoccupied, however, Kaori still refused to completely leave her head, and once that thought introduced itself back to her mind, Sakaki decided to not try and push it away. She couldn't buy into Kagura's distrust. She simply couldn't. Kaori seemed such a sweet girl, always thinking about everybody else's convenience, and certainly she had not given any reason for Sakaki to doubt her sincerity. Even Maya seemed to implicitly trust her, which was not a usual occurrence. And when it came to Maya's perception, Sakaki certainly trusted it more than any instinct humans possessed.

It was then and there that Sakaki made the decision that this weekend she will have to spend some time with Kaori. She had to get to know her better, and she had to get the ball rolling. Otherwise she'd never be able to even begin to dispel whatever accusations were levelled at her new friend. And with a few moments of thought, she knew exactly what would do the trick.

Getting up, she walked over to her phone and dialled Kaori's number, which by now she knew almost by heart. After around three buzzes, the phone was answered, and the familiar voice of Kaori came out, _"Aida Kaori."_

"Hey, Kaori! It's me, Sakaki," she announced happily.

"Oh, hey Sakaki-san," Kaori said a bit cautiously.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you," Sakaki politely began.

"No, no... not at all. I... I just got back from work a few minutes ago, actually. So... what's up?"

"Ah, I was just calling to see whether you'd possibly like to go out with me this weekend to enjoy the pleasures of summer, like maybe tomorrow?"

"Oh, tomorrow's... ummm... not really that good for me," Kaori slowly said, once more evading Sakaki's requests, which had been coming in for the whole of the week.

Sakaki was a bit perturbed by yet another decline, but this time she didn't want to give up, "Well, then how about Sunday? I'd really like to see you again, and I'd really appreciate if you could spare a few hours from your busy schedule. I mean, it _would_ be a Sunday, after all, and those observatory people can't expect you to work all the time do they? You do need to take a break from time to time, Kaori, and I would really appreciate if you could do this for me," Sakaki emphatically said, not wanting to give Kaori another opportunity to say no.

Kaori on her side was a bit taken aback by the sudden insistence of Sakaki, "Ummm... Well... Yes, that is right... uh..."

"Please?" Sakaki further emphasised, quietly praying that Kaori would accept, and completely unaware that on the other end of the line, Kaori was starting to sweat out of pure nervousness. She wanted to decline once more, but something was fighting her back.

"I... I... Well... I..." she stammered before figuring out that she was fighting a losing battle here. This time Sakaki would obviously not give in and Kaori just couldn't justify to herself to deny Sakaki this victory. Giving a deep sigh, she answered, "All right Sakaki-san. I'll get together with you on Sunday."

Sakaki fist-pumped, and gave a silent 'yesss!!!' "Great to hear that, Kaori. And I have just the perfect thing planned out for us too."

"Oh? What's that?" Kaori asked.

"A picnic," Sakaki proudly stated.

– O –

_At 5:45 pm, an old sailor puts a liquorice pipe into his mouth, and dreams of the days when tobacco was not considered dangerous._

_

* * *

This was a monstrously difficult chapter to write, and I really had to wring a lot of this stuff out by almost sheer brute force. But surprisingly, I think it turned out better than I expected. So now we got a glimpse of Kaori's work, we met Chihiro (who indeed is married to the glasses-wearing background character Ohyama here), and we got to see the convo of Sakaki and Kagura earlier in the week. And yes, I gave Kaori a fangirl. T'was just a funny idea that in certain circles, even Kaori could have somebody who thought she was cool... or at least who thought her brain was cool (hitting a little close to home are we). I hope the astronomy stuff didn't sound too fake, but there really is no simple manual I can use to make it all any more true to real life. But the next chapter should be simpler as we go on a PICNIC! Until then. See ya!_


	15. Picnicking

_Hello, everybody! Reports of my early demise have been greatly exaggerated you'll be happy to note. First off, so sorry it took me the whole of six months to get a new chapter finished for this story. I've just been so entirely uninspired to figure out what I wanted to happen in the picnic scene that it completely took my writing desires away from this story for an inordinately long time. But here is finally the long-awaited 15th Chapter of Leave Me Alone!, and it is also by turn the longest thus far in the story, going way over 10 000 words in total. _

_With this move, by the way, this story now enters into the realm of stories exceeding 100 000 words in the Azu fandom, being the fifth currently online! Yippee!! I suppose this is a milestone of some sort as I've never written anything this long in my life._

_Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this new instalment__…__ as otherwise I'm pretty screwed._

_

* * *

On Sunday, June 8th, 2014, at 12:05 pm, a man cosplaying Zorro is arrested on suspicion that he is weird._

– O –

"Bread... ham... lettuce... boiled eggs... cheese... lemonade..." Sakaki numerated as she filled the picnic basket for her and Kaori's little endeavour today.

By every count, Sakaki was happy. Ever since she had finally managed to get Kaori to agree on meeting her again for another intimate engagement, Sakaki had been feeling good about everything around her for a change, from cooking to playing with Maya. For the past week and a half Kaori had, to Sakaki's particular note, been occupying her mind to a surprisingly sizeable extent, even going so far as making her at times faze out completely from other tasks at hand. It wasn't really an obstruction to her daily life, but it wasn't regular for her to get lost in her thoughts like that, even when her mind was preoccupied by cute animals or the like.

Sakaki attributed a lot of this to a combination of things. Firstly, her want of keeping in touch with Kaori lest she disappeared again for another decade was an important consideration Sakaki wanted to peruse to its fullest. Secondly she also wanted to somehow make up for all the pain Kaori had been through on their group outing, much of which Sakaki still partially blamed herself for. And thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, her recent failures at getting in touch with the apparently very busy astronomer made the sum value of her first and second considerations gather momentum for an entire week to the degree of making them almost ready to burst out as if they had been stored in a pressure cooker about to pop.

In many ways, Kaori still presented to Sakaki an enigma she wanted to understand and for this purpose Sakaki needed to spend time with her so that she could better get under Kaori's skin and figure out what it was in her that made Sakaki feel so open and confiding near her, as well as finding out once and for all what exactly made Kaori "Kaori". And even if all this attention and wayward thoughts started to sound a little obsessive to Sakaki, she didn't want to waste any more time in building this relationship on more solid foundations. In a way, her focus was perhaps understandable enough when considering how uneventful her life really was, and on some level this interest could have also been attributed to a certain degree of boredom, but Sakaki adamantly rejected such shallow ideas from her mind straight off. She wasn't doing this just out of not having anything better to do, but indeed out of the pure desire to tie up the loose human knot that had been left dangling for way too long.

Sakaki had so hoped that the group outing last weekend would have been a means to accomplish a lot of what she had been thinking up since meeting Kaori again, but that had certainly not worked out exactly to Sakaki's satisfaction. She had had some precious familiarity time, but it had all unfortunately descended to a night of misery more than anything else. And thus her attempts to get Kaori inducted into her no.1 buddy list had been met with bitter failure and pushed everything back in a way that Sakaki didn't want. Not to mention it had caused some major friction with Kagura, which was certainly a very unwelcomed side effect, and which still required some kind of a resolution to make everything right again.

But for this specific attempt everything would be perfect Sakaki thought with conviction. It would just be Sakaki and Kaori. Together on a leisurely day out, eating sandwiches and enjoying the beautiful outside air. The weather was at its pitch summery perfect, and the temperature bobbing off at around 20°C that was complemented by a slight breeze, the air being neither too hot nor too cold… The perfect opportunity to bond and let friendship bloom the way it was supposed to. And by the end of the day, Sakaki had no doubt that she and Kaori from then on would be as if there had never been a 12 year gap in their friendship. Not to mention that their relations would hopefully be considerably tighter than they had ever been. Of that Sakaki was certain, and which excited her perhaps the most: the prospect of bringing alive a brand new friendship. There was just something so... beautiful about that.

And with the conditions this ideal, what could possibly go wrong?

While thus musing, Sakaki glanced at the clock. "Hmm... already half past 12. I better start heading off to Kaori's," she told herself as she did her final check-ups that everything they needed was in order. Once satisfied, Sakaki grabbed the picnic basket and headed for the door, "See you later, Maya. Behave while I'm gone," she said to her Iriomote cat and stepped out to begin her "Operation Kaofriend".

– O –

After a brisk walk of 30 minutes, Sakaki arrived at Kaori's apartment building just at the height of the day's beauty. Walking up the steps to the front door, she pressed the doorbell and waited for Kaori to open, while finishing up the last notes of the tune she had been humming on her way there. A few seconds later the safety lock clicked as the door opened and she was greeted with the slightly blushed face of Kaori. It struck Sakaki that she had actually very rarely really seen Kaori without a blush adorning her face, but she supposed Kaori was just one of those extremely bashful types who'd blush at the mere mention of something as banal as groceries or the like… And which might also explain some of the tangible nervousness her personality was always laced with.

"Hello, Kaori," Sakaki said as she offered a warm smile.

"H-hello, Sakaki-san," Kaori responded as her blush grew a few shades brighter, giving Sakaki's suppositions a bit more ground and amusement.

"Are you ready? I have everything packed up here and we're all set if you are," Sakaki said.

"Y-yeah, sure. I'm as ready as I suppose I'll ever be," Kaori told her.

"Great. Let's go then. I have the perfect place already thought up not too far from here, so we can walk," Sakaki explained.

"Okay, yeah... let's go..." Kaori said hastily, while trying to reign in her nervousness at the situation, and quickly closed the door behind her as the two women left off toward their picnic destination.

For Kaori this day aroused a multitude of really mixed feelings. She seriously didn't know how she should adjust to whatever this day was to offer. At age 16 she would have died if Sakaki had proposed a picnic to her. At age 29 she didn't know if this would _be_ for the death of her. Ever since she had agreed to this little outing, Kaori's head had been swimming in thoughts of uncertainty and confusion. After all she was going on an intimate picnic... alone... with Sakaki-san. It would just be her and Sakaki-san. Sakaki-san and Kaori. Kaori _and _Sakaki-san. _Sakaki-san._ Once that realisation had hit her around 10 pm on Friday night, every waking moment – and sleeping as well – had been ripe with a few nervous breakdowns, a lot of needless sweating, a couple of miles worth of pacing around, and a burnout or two. This whole non-committal plan to Sakaki was _not _going exactly as planned.

At least last time she could find solace in the fact she wouldn't be alone with Sakaki, but this time there would be no interruptions; no paying attention to anybody else but the two eating sandwiches and whatnot. It was almost too much. Kaori's dread quotient had been steadily rising ever since meeting Sakaki again a couple of weeks back, and each new encounter seemed to be making things that ever bit worse. Everything was so not going as she was hoping, and her attempts to keep Sakaki at a respectable distance was seemingly getting more and more difficult. At this rate, she feared that her old emotions might try and break to the surface again, as she could already have felt them subtly stirring in the darkest recesses of her heart she tried to keep hidden from everybody, including herself. She knew the dangers involved with that, and that was enough reason for her to try and reinforce her protective system the best she could. But it certainly wasn't easy in this kind of onslaught Sakaki was putting forth. Suddenly this whole friendship agreement started to sound like a very bad idea.

At the same time, Sakaki was quietly enjoying the warm weather and the thought about the day that laid ahead. It seemed that everything was conspiring to make this a most favourable day on just about every account. And to Sakaki's special note, even Kaori seemed to be embodying this atmosphere extremely well in her light, thigh-length powder pink sundress that made her look extremely cute.

With the thought that a complement is always a good way to start, Sakaki quietly said, "You look really nice, Kaori," thus breaking the silence that had reigned between the two women thus far.

"_Oh my God!!!" _Kaori screamed in her mind. That just came so out of nowhere. "R-r-really?" Kaori stammered as she felt every drop of blood in her body rushing into her head.

"Mmm. That dress looks really cute on you," Sakaki soberly stated.

"T-t-thanks... I… I just figured it's so warm out to h-have something l-light…" Kaori managed, feeling ever so much losing her strength... both physical and mental. "Y-you don't look too bad yourself," she offered a counter-compliment.

"Oh... these are just regular street clothes. Just a top and shorts. Nothing special," Sakaki said modestly.

"I d-don't think... they look... too bad..." Kaori attempted, feeling like needing to say something that sounded encouraging.

"I guess... but I'd still rather wish I'd be able to wear something more like what you are," Sakaki said back.

"Oh? Umm... you wish? What do you mean? Why couldn't you?" Kaori asked confused.

"Umm... well... it's just that I... just don't think I could wear something like that," Sakaki said.

"Why?" Kaori pressed, not really understanding what Sakaki was trying to say.

"Because... I'm... because I'm not that... well, I'm just not that... You know… cute... to be able to wear those kinds of clothes," Sakaki said with an effort, not liking to dwell on her being the very opposite of what she really wanted to be like.

"What?" Kaori wondered out loud, thinking that maybe she heard wrong.

"Yes. You wanted to hear a reason, so… that's the reason. There really is not much more to add to that."

"Oh…"

"Actually, come to talk about it… there are times I wish I actually looked more like somebody such as you, for instance."

"Like me?"

"Mmm... Petite... and cute... And fitting in with other people instead of being this tall and intimidating and... un-cute. Just so people would see me differently. Then maybe I would be thought of as being cute too," Sakaki elaborated in her own quaint, slightly naïve way, her cheeks forming a slight blush at her thought.

Kaori, however, gave a long, disbelieving stare at Sakaki before she felt something just snapping in her head. It was completely unexpected, but something about Sakaki's words had effected her so strongly that they caused a flare to go off in her mind that couldn't be held back, no matter how unadvised letting it out was, piercing a small hole in her inner firewall. Hardening her countenance with her uninvited new found resolve, Kaori stopped walking and began, "You know Sakaki-san. That just sounded utterly... absurd."

"Huh?" Sakaki looked back in astonishment, also stopping, not expecting a response like that to come out of her smaller friend's mouth.

"You heard me. Really, I don't know what you're thinking, but you _are _cute," Kaori loaded, not really caring what she was saying as her subconscious Sakaki musings started to surge out of the small outlet found in Kaori's closely secured armour. "Sure, you may not be short or something like that, but you're still cute... in your own way. I mean, even I can tell you have nothing to be ashamed about with how you look. You are beautiful, cute, and have a really warm heart which one would need to be blind not to see. I don't see what makes you say you are somehow _not _like that... or why you couldn't for some reason wear clothing like this for another matter."

Sakaki was left a bit speechless, but still found it enough to say, "I'm not that sure about that. I mean, everybody expects me to be a certain way... and they think I'm a loner and how I'm tough and..."

"So what?" Kaori interrupted, causing Sakaki to quiet down again and give another long stare. "So what what other people think? Where does it say you have to conform to other people's expectations?"

"Umm... well..." Sakaki stammered.

"If you want to be cute, then _be _cute. If that's what you want to be, then don't be afraid to show that. It doesn't matter what _other_ people think you should be like, but rather you should be what _you_ want to be. It's really as simple as that," Kaori said in the heat of the moment, aggravated by Sakaki's attitude.

Sakaki was bewildered, not knowing what to say or do. Nobody had really ever said stuff like that to her ­­­­ not even her other friends ­­­­ so it was a bit of a shock to have words like that thrown in her face so candidly, and by Kaori of all people. "Umm… I… I guess… that's so… but…"

"No buts!" Kaori quickly interrupted, still on a roll, "There's no reason why you should let other people dictate how you're perceived. Or feel like you need to care. I mean, what was it you told me that one time you came to my house? About being frustrated that people think you're different than you are in reality? Well… maybe you shouldn't blame other people for that instead of rather blaming _yourself_. Of course if you act like a loner or a tough girl people will also think that. But you know what, instead of just rolling around in self pity, why don't you instead _do_ something about it and make a change? Dress differently. Act differently. Stop being your own worst enemy. If you just continue on believing you're all of that you said you are, then nothing will ever change, and you'll keep on being the loner you don't want to be. Just take a chance, ­ ­stop hiding and making excuses, and maybe people will start thinking differently of you. Just stop being such a wuss about it!" Kaori finished in a huff.

Sakaki's eyes were now staring at the flushed appearance of Kaori with wide eyes. This was the second time Kaori had exploded on her like that in the past couple of weeks… or come to think of it ever. Kaori had just always seemed so shy and demure that it still sounded so odd to hear her really go off like that. Maybe it was again due to Sakaki not knowing her well enough to know what she really was like, but it still felt a bit odd to hear her talk like that. And Sakaki had to admit, that what Kaori had said did make a whole lot of sense, telling Sakaki something she probably should have seen before, but had simply never really gone as far as to identify for herself. Indeed, why should Sakaki be so concerned for public opinion, and feel like the need to hide under some tough exterior, and then complain about being misunderstood when she herself was feeding into the misunderstanding more than anybody else? It was like a revelation… yet it seemed like one that Sakaki had known for ages, yet never draped it in understandable words on her own.

"_Maybe__…__ maybe she__'__s right. Maybe I should try to be different__…__ more freely allow myself to be what I want to be. Have I__…__ Have I truly been the source for it all__…__ and then blamed others? Have I really been that blind?__"_With those thoughts, Sakaki descended into an introspective silence, looking rather grim and annoyed as she went through her inner musings on the subject, feeling ever so more angry toward herself for possibly having been so callous.

Next to her Kaori, on the other hand, was starting to get nervous. The effects of her momentary state of insanity had finally hit the point in her consciousness in all its horrifying power as her virus protection system started patching up the little weakness found in her safety net. Hazarding a glance toward her idol, it was as she feared. Sakaki was looking less than happy, and most certainly it did nothing to ease Kaori's mind to find that she had now obviously upset Sakaki rather strongly. That was certainly the farthest thing she had wanted to do. She just couldn't help it. Something in her had made Kaori snap so badly that she had ended up berating Sakaki to an extent that she never meant to. It was only with great mental force that Kaori prevented herself from running off right there and then. And it certainly wasn't helping that she was feeling somewhat hypocritical for attempting to give advice like that considering her own disposition in hiding her true self from the whole world. _"__You stupid, stupid, stupid idiot! Why did you have to go say stuff like that to Sakaki-san for? Now you__'__ve__really done it. Sakaki-san is sure to hate me now. I can live with a lot of stuff, and I know Sakaki-san__'__s off limits, but__…__ I still don__'__t want her to _hate_ me. But guess there__'__s no helping it anymore__…"_

"Sakaki-san… I'm… I'm sorry," Kaori said glumly.

Sakaki interrupted her thoughts to look at the woman standing next to her. "Huh? For what?"

"…For saying all that stuff about you. I was completely out of line. I'm sorry," Kaori said with her gaze directed toward the ground, too ashamed to look straight at Sakaki.

Sakaki took her time in regarding Kaori before saying, "You have no reason to apologize, Kaori…"

"Yes I do," Kaori interrupted. "It's not my business to try and tell people what to do with their lives. It's… not my place to pretend I somehow understand…"

"Oh, but you do!" Sakaki interjected. "You do. Perhaps better than I do myself. You know I… I never really thought of it that way. I've always felt that everybody just wanted to see me as a tough girl but… but I never looked at it from the perspective that maybe I was feeding to the stereotype more than I thought I was. It's just that… well, I suppose I just… never saw that I was doing this… or didn't _want_ to see it. And nobody else ever pointed it out to me. So… guess what I'm trying to say is that… you don't really have anything to feel sorry for. In fact, it's me who rather owes you a thank you."

Kaori said nothing as she looked up at the gently smiling face of Sakaki in thought. It suddenly struck Kaori how much Sakaki had actually changed. It wasn't something she could put her finger on specifically, but something about her had definitely evolved over the years. It was as if Sakaki had… become more comfortable with herself. She was still calm and composed and generally quiet and understated in her actions and talk, but when compared to the Sakaki of the past who barely ever spoke a word, and who seemed so entirely dispassionate of the world at large; who had seemed like an aloof goddess on her marble pedestal to the ever impressionable Kaori… or at least someone she longed for desperately, yet was too afraid to get too close to should she end up ruining everything as usual… even if the prospect broke her heart. No, this Sakaki was not like that at all.

This Sakaki just felt like being so… free. So much more… open. So much more… human. Approachable. So much less of a sacred idol or someone to be feared should you take one false step in her presence. It was as if she had over the intervening 12 years been learning how to live amid the regular people. How to not close herself off from others so exclusively, but little by little allowing people into her heart. Other people. Not just those within her elite group of friends. Letting more people give her warmth and care and deeper friendship… and perhaps even allowing herself to be left vulnerable to being possibly hurt for this loosing of constraints. Kaori had noticed this change in Sakaki before, but she hadn't in her panic-filled head up until now really paid as much attention to it than she was now as she gazed back into those hypnotically immersive blue eyes. Eyes that now held so much actual warmth and kindness than she ever remembered seeing them containing before all that time ago. If at all possible… Sakaki-san had perhaps just become even cooler than she was before. Cool… but delightfully warm and soft at the same time… yet, under this warmth and her cool exterior, there was still a woman uncertain and insecure of herself…

_"How Sakaki-san is so much deeper than I ever imagined her to be in the past__…__ I never understood how much so__…__" _Kaori internally mused.

"Kaori?" Sakaki suddenly asked, popping Kaori out of the reverie she had been drifting off to. "Are you all right? You've been staring at me for a while now."

Kaori was startled, noticing how close she had come to almost allowing her guard getting down and, her face exploding fiery red in embarrassment, she shook her head to clear her mind and quickly said, "I'm fine… perfectly fine. I just… nodded off there for a while. B-but I'm fine now. Sorry. I didn't mean to be impolite or anything."

Sakaki acknowledged Kaori's concerns with a simple "Mmm… it's all right," while chuckling slightly at Kaori's utterly flustered condition.

"But still… I just want to be clear that my point was that you should simply be what you want to be, and what makes _you_ comfortable. Not that you should conform to what people say… even what I say. Do what you feel is right, Sakaki-san, and I'll support it no matter what it is," Kaori murmured, composing herself as best she could, her legs starting to feel less like spaghetti but her being still feeling slightly shaken up.

"Mmm… Thank you, Kaori," Sakaki said back with a small smile, and the two fell silent again as they started on their way once more.

– O –

The park of Hamamatsucho was one of those places that just attracted people to it on warm days like mice are attracted to clichés. This was particularly true for this particular Sunday, when people wanted to escape from even a whiff of their daily worries, jobs and other stressful thoughts. It was a perfect place to simply relax without the necessity of driving hours to get away from the bustle of the city to reach the more meditative prefectures of a countryside. Indeed, the expanse of the park was a perfect destination for many pleasure seekers or young couples; a calm place right beside their doorstep, with a sizeable enough pond bordering on a small lake, and containing several walkways among the finely maintained shrubberies. It was like a paradise within the city, and many people considered it as such… Sakaki being one of them.

Entering the park, the two women decided to slow down their pace and just ambled about in no hurry to find a suitable corner to hold their little picnic at. As was expected Sakaki, of course, had often come here with her other friends ever since discovering the place late in their third year of high school, and the park had since come to contain a lot of memories for her over the ensuing years; of the Bonkuras doing their silly little experiments, such as making an Osaka glider that didn't quite work as planned, or doing a rain dance that had only resulted in them getting completely exhausted before they even got started; of Chiyo's farewell party held there as she had left Japan entirely shortly afterward graduation; of the moments of bonding with the people in her circle staying behind who had remained somewhat distant to her before, like Yomi or Osaka; of just enjoying the company of her friends in quiet moments of happiness that invited no talk, of sadness when some of her friends hit rougher waters, and of many moments of simple fun that had given Sakaki a glimpse of a world that she had been unaware of for the majority of her childhood. A world where it was okay to have real human "friends" and to feel like belonging with something in this world that sometimes seemed just so cruel and cold and uncaring.

These fond memories Sakaki entertained of this place were one of the primary reasons she now brought Kaori over as well, who had never been a part of this place of lovely recollections for Sakaki before. Somehow this place was just so perfect for Sakaki's purposes to get to know Kaori better, and at the same time she could include her within these memories she held so dear… where she had really come to know her other friends so well, too. On her part Kaori, in fact, had been to this park as well before, but past a couple of random visits with Chihiro, the place had never formed into one of her regular haunts and thus held no particular significance. But Kaori couldn't deny the beauty of the place, and she had to admit that Sakaki did have an eye for beauty, which just went perfectly together with Sakaki's own goddess-like looks. This last thought, though, once more caused Kaori to quickly admonish herself for always allowing these pesky sensory backlashes to impede on her logical side's rationality of not thinking that way about Sakaki. Still, Kaori was certain those feelings would not be the last she'd experience, and resolved to try to keep all the more vigil from allowing her subconscious to stray too far into the forbidden zone, which had seemingly been getting more and more active in this regard.

With no hurry to get to anywhere, the two wandered a moment in search for a good place to set down to, quietly chatting about little insignificant – and to Kaori "safe" – things like books they had recently read, or of some minor topical news items while they were at it. It wasn't much, but it did help for the both of them to set into a kind of relaxed state of cosiness, which was certainly welcomed by both after the more edgy conversing they had engaged in earlier on their walk. Even Kaori was starting to get a lot more carefree about the entire situation and simply decided to try and enjoy the day to the best of her ability, decreeing to allow things to go on their own weight and only deciding to take action should things take a turn toward the more dangerous regions she didn't want to cross.

Having walked around for a small while, the two then decided on sitting down under the shadow of a large tree with long, overhanging branches overlooking the central pond with its water lilies and ducks. It was definitely one of those quaint, picturesque spots that could have originated from a Constable painting or something, with the exception of the signs of urbanity displayed by towering buildings beyond the treeline and the constant – though muffled – noise of the traffic outside. Thankfully none of this was really distracting in any way, so there was nothing really seriously impeding on the atmosphere of calm and the sweetness of summer, bringing with it one of those unique combinations of contrasts that Japan was so apt in providing.

Spreading out the blanket Sakaki had brought along, the two sat down and took a moment to admire the view opening in front of them.

"Wow… It's sure pretty out here," Kaori wondered out loud.

"Mmm… yes it is," Sakaki confirmed with a little dreaminess creeping into her voice, "I love this place. Particularly during the summer. It's so… nice."

"Ah… Yes, I see what you mean. So… you come here often then or…?" Kaori inquired, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yes. I actually do come here quite often when I want to relax a bit. This park to me is different to the shrine we were at earlier with the others. I go there when I want to meditate and not have anybody interrupt me from my thoughts, but… this place – has so many memories attached to it. It… well… it feels…" Sakaki said, searching for the proper words.

"Yeah?" Kaori urged.

"Oh… well… You'll probably just think it's stupid," Sakaki said a bit embarrassed.

"What? Why would I think that?" Kaori said with a faintly amused smile on her face.

"I mean… it's probably a little childish anyway…" Sakaki tried dismissing the thought she so carelessly had thrown out there.

"Oh, come on, Sakaki-san. You can't just leave it at that. Now… now I really want to know. Please, tell me. Please?" Kaori playfully begged, partly curious, partly somewhat amused at Sakaki's sudden bashful behaviour, and also partly in wanting to make her feel at least somewhat more comfortable in her desired path to becoming more open. "I promise I won't make fun of you. Hand on heart."

Sakaki gave a glance at Kaori's happily smiling face and, with a slight blush, said, "Well… it's just that… this place kind of… makes me feel like I'm… like I'm in a… a cradle." After that she blushed again and looked away in embarrassment. _"A cradle__…__ oh, that just sounded so__…__ stupid. Kaori must think of me a complete fool for that," _she thought in her head.

In response, Kaori just tilted her head slightly and asked in confirmation, "A cradle?"

"Um… yes… As in, this place just… kind of feels like… such a secure place. Where I can just… feel really comfortable at… like in a warm, comfortable bed… or like a cradle… you know…" Sakaki awkwardly tried to further explain.

"I see," was all Kaori was content at saying.

"I told you it was stupid," Sakaki said slightly dejected.

"No, no! Not at all," Kaori quickly said back when noticing Sakaki's changing mood, "I don't think it's stupid at all."

"You don't?" Sakaki asked as she again turned toward her smaller friend.

"No, of course not," Kaori assured. "In fact… I think I know exactly what you mean."

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm. Actually… I've got a place like this also, believe it or not."

Sakaki just looked on as Kaori continued.

"Yeah… I mean, it's not really as impressive as this place, but I've always felt that way about my bedroom."

"Your bedroom?" Sakaki deadpanned. Kaori felt her bedroom was like a cradle? Well… duh?

Kaori was quick to catch on to Sakaki's rather dumb expression, "No, I don't mean it like that! I mean it like… you know, like it's a… place where you can feel comfortable with yourself. Where… where you can just quiet down and feel safe. Relaxed… in harmony with yourself and your surroundings… well, you know what I'm talking about."

Sakaki's expression softened in quiet affirmation, the type only Sakaki could pull off without overwhelming either the serene or the happy element in her expression. Indeed, that was exactly what she had meant. Kaori seemed to have just perfectly wiggled into her mind and dressed her thoughts into exactly the right words that communicated her meaning to perfection without sounding silly or childish. Once again Sakaki could feel that odd sensation emanating from the stargirl that told of a deeper understanding that just felt so comfortable and inviting, and made Sakaki feel all the more happy in getting to know her better. Ever since Chiyo left, she had desired such a friend who'd understand her in this way, and even if such a comparison was probably a bit premature to make at this point, Sakaki's want to have somebody like that in her life made Kaori at least seem like just such a person.

"Sakaki-san? You okay?" Kaori asked after a moment of silence.

"Huh? Oh… Oh, yes… I'm… I'm fine," Sakaki said blinkingly, emerging from that small moment of getting lost in her thoughts.

"Had a nice trip?" Kaori asked in amusement.

"Oh… it was nothing… sorry. Say, what say we eat something? I've… umm… packed a bunch of stuff for us to enjoy," Sakaki said quickly, slightly embarrassed for phasing off like that, and started sifting through the contents of the picnic basket.

Pulling out a Tupperware jug of cool lemonade with a couple of cups, a bag of bread, some bread toppings, various small foods on the side and even some fruit, Kaori watched Sakaki pile more and more food out of the basket, making her feel a little awkward and wondering how much food Sakaki had actually brought along.

"Wow… Sakaki-san. You sure don't pack lightly when considering there's only two of us," Kaori said with a nervous smile.

Sakaki stopped and blushed. She had been so excited about the day, that she had just packed as much food along with her for variety's sake and never really stopped to think of their actual practical needs. "Oh, umm… sorry. I… ummm… I just wanted to be on the safe side and take a lot of food along if you should not like something or…"

"No, no, it's okay. I didn't mean it as a criticism or anything. I was just a bit surprised, that's all," Kaori quickly said in defence, adding a moment later, "In fact… I actually feel a bit bad for not bringing anything myself."

"Oh, don't be. I mean, I told you I would handle the food part, so that you wouldn't need to bother with it. This _was _my idea after all," Sakaki said back, not wanting Kaori to yet again feel dejected or somehow sad for some perceived wrongs she seemed to be prone to entertain.

"Yeah, I know, I know… but still, you going to all the trouble and expense to get all of this food and everything, I just feel like I should have contributed somehow too…" Kaori started, but Sakaki again gently, yet firmly interrupted her.

"No, Kaori, please. I don't mind at all, and it's been no bother either. I guarantee you. So you don't need to worry at all about any inconvenience to me," Sakaki assured, loading as much confidence in her face and words as she could muster.

Kaori, seeing Sakaki was serious, decided to give up the argument with a weak look of defeat and nodded her head with a small, "Okay. If you say it's okay."

Sakaki just smiled back warmly, her thoughts again returning to that almost helpless air Kaori could sometimes adopt, and which had been one of the sources of worry for Sakaki when concerning the meek girl. "You really do worry about other people's feelings quite a bit don't you?"

"What? Oh… umm… well maybe… somewhat… I guess… I mean, who wouldn't…" Kaori stammered slightly embarrassed at the clear implications behind this sudden remark.

"Like at the restaurant? What Yomi said for instance? About you wanting to pay your own food instead of having Yomi pay it herself?" Sakaki said gently.

"Oh, well… t-that was just… I just… well, felt a little… you know, wrong… in making Yomi pay for an extra guest… I-it just felt like the decent thing to do…" Kaori said meekly.

"Or trying to leave like that just so the rest of us could still enjoy ourselves?"

"Umh… well, I was the outsider, after all…" Kaori continued blushing, her self-consciousness starting to arise on top from all this supposed "nobility" of hers Sakaki was clearly trying to hint at. After all, she wasn't trying to be some kind of a girl scout, but just wanted to do what she saw as being the right thing to do. She hated the whole concept of freeloading, or being a bother to anyone, and did her utmost to not be a burden to others or a selfish beggar if she could help it.

Sakaki simply regarded the embarrassed countenance of Kaori for a moment before lifting her hand on Kaori's shoulder, startling the smaller woman to instantly lift her eyes to face her former idol's face. "You know, sometimes it's alright to be a bit selfish," Sakaki said in an understanding tone.

Kaori blinked at this statement a bit, not saying anything, as Sakaki continued, "You don't always have to worry about offending others feelings. Sometimes it's okay to accept other people wanting to do nice things for you without them expecting anything back."

Kaori wasn't really sure how to respond to this so she allowed Sakaki to continue just a bit more, "I was once like that. Or… well, maybe not exactly the same, but close at least. I was once so afraid of letting people close to me. To let them effect my life in a big way, or allow them to see too much of me… I suppose this was one of the reasons I also ended up feeling so lonely and found it difficult to let others approach me. In a way I guess I also ended up being afraid to allow people to show me kindness or unselfish friendship… which is not to say that you're like that or anything… it just kind of felt the same to me or something…" Sakaki hastily finished in fears of stereotyping Kaori into being somebody like herself.

Kaori looked at Sakaki a while more without still saying anything, before offering a slight, tender smile, "You know, it's not exactly the same thing."

"Oh… well, yes, I suppose it isn't…" Sakaki said a bit embarrassed.

"But I think I understand what you mean," Kaori finished.

"Ah… well… that's good then…" Sakaki said meekly.

"The human heart yearns for the touch of others. And nobody wants to be alone… I guess that's normal for anybody," Kaori said.

"Mmm… that's true… Anyway my point was just that you should allow other people to be unselfish to you too sometimes. Otherwise it sort of defeats the purpose of their unselfishness, right?" Sakaki said as a summary.

Kaori just chuckled lightly, "Yeah, I guess so."

Sakaki also shared the smile, glad to have made Kaori feel a bit more comfortable again, and with that in mind turned back to the basket, "And speaking of unselfish things… I have something special for you."

"Oh?" Kaori asked slightly puzzled.

Sakaki dug a little inside the basket, and triumphally uncovered a platter that she smilingly handed to Kaori, "Here."

Taking the plate from Sakaki, Kaori's eyes widened at the sight, "Salmon?"

"Mmm. I remember you saying that you liked salmon, so I thought you'd appreciate this," Sakaki explained.

"I _love_ salmon," Kaori said, her eyes gleaming in delight at the sight of the thin slices of fish on the platter in her hands, "…But… isn't this a little unusual for a picnic dish?"

"Mmm… perhaps. But, then again, this is _our _picnic, so I think we can shape it to suit our tastes, don't you think?" Sakaki said back.

Kaori smiled back broadly, "Well, since you put it that way…" and the two shared a relieving small merry laugh.

– O –

Over the next hour, both Kaori and Sakaki simply enjoyed themselves as best they could, eating Sakaki's food and talking of work, art, entertainment, and generally what had been going on in their lives. Following all the moments of near disaster already that day (and in some way the past couple of weeks as well), it was clear they certainly welcomed the lightened atmosphere with alacrity and were both keen on maintaining it. Sakaki in particular was really enjoying this feeling of relaxed and long-overdue bonding as she thought of it as being. And, to help matters along even better, Sakaki once more noted that odd feeling of ease that seemed to be associated with the petite woman. Somehow it just felt so… safe and comfortable to be with her. Kaori didn't demand anything from her, and now that she was considerably more relaxed, and not so fidgety and nervous all the time – though those qualities never really seemed to completely disappear – she was also proving to be a nice conversationalist. Particularly when Sakaki brought up Kaori's astronomy work did she really seem to explode into life, talking excitedly and with abandon about stars and constellations and of the "fantastic scientific discovery she had made" that would be a milestone in the field of universal research. Sakaki admittedly didn't really understand a lot of that, but seeing how much it meant to Kaori, it didn't really matter to her at all, and for once it was just so nice to hear the normally shy woman being so fearless.

Sakaki especially noted that for a while that inexplicable melancholy that seemed to reflect in her eyes so often disappeared nearly completely. It still somewhat boggled Sakaki's mind what could possibly be bothering Kaori so much that the melancholy was such a constant in her being… not really layered at the top, but Sakaki could still see it just beneath the surface. Oh well, Sakaki supposed this would eventually open up to her in some revelation the better she got to know Kaori, but it probably wasn't wise to try and coax it out of her now when things were going so smoothly.

Kaori on her part was also enjoying herself to a degree she didn't know she would be. While still trying to somewhat hold up that barrier she used to protect herself from being swept away by Sakaki's undeniable graces, she also found herself to be a lot more at peace without needing to constantly beware of faltering down in tragedy. What surprised her was exactly how easy it was to talk to Sakaki. It was as if the gentle smiles and her non-intimidating behaviour were making things so much more easier for Kaori to just loosen up a bit and try to have fun. Sakaki certainly seemed so different now. In the past it was so hard to even say a word to her, let alone maintain a lengthy discussion before Kaori felt compelled to think she had overstayed her welcome. But now none of these feelings were really there at all, and Kaori was to her great surprise actually enjoying this companionship. Also the ease she found in talking with Sakaki was truly a relief, prompting her to consider that maybe those silly high school feelings of hers were finally starting to fade away. At least so she hoped was the case. It was odd how much time could change people or perceptions, but this seemed to have happened with Sakaki, and Kaori had to admit she liked it. In a friendly way, she added internally, as if needing to remind herself of not going any farther with these thoughts. And the platter of salmon certainly was a most positive addition to this day.

Having all but finished eating, Sakaki and Kaori were now winding down under the comforting brightness of the sun and the blue sky, descending into a thoughtful silence of introspection; Kaori lying down on the blanket and Sakaki sitting hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees, looking somewhat reflective, as if caught in a deeper thought of something that had wiggled into her mind. Above the birds were chirping and the steady, low rumble of the pulsing city around them was creating an ambiance that was both a reminder of the never-ceasing life of Tokyo, yet at the same time also giving a strange sense of soothing calm that was neither disturbing nor offensive.

"It really is pretty out here…" Sakaki mumbled disconnectedly, earning a small glance from Kaori.

The latter woman turned her gaze back toward the sky and likewise mumbled an affirmative "Yeah… it is," while trying to peer through the veil of blue standing between her present location, and the vastness of the many galaxies beyond it, including her grand discovery… though her success was rather poor due to her unfortunate lack of telescope vision.

Sakaki tilted her head a bit backward when a small gust of wind blew in her face, making the strands of her long black hair sway in the breeze before the cooling breath disappeared again as quickly as it had appeared.

Beside them, ducks were waddling aimlessly around the edge of the pond and in search of something to eat.

"Say, Kaori…" Sakaki momentarily said in a subdued tone.

"Yeah?" Kaori asked as she again tilted her head slightly toward the sitting Sakaki.

Sakaki stayed quiet for a moment, before saying with a slight shake of her head, "…never mind."

Kaori kept her eyes at her raven-haired friend for a moment longer, seeing if Sakaki'd continue with whatever she was going to say, but seeing her apparently shrugging off the entire matter prompted Kaori to ask, "What is it, Sakaki-san? Is something the matter?"

"Oh… no. It was nothing at all. Just something I thought of… it's nothing important," she dismissed while seemingly focusing her eyes somewhere beyond the pond.

Kaori, though, wasn't that convinced it was nothing as she quietly gazed at Sakaki's eyes, that seemed to have adopted a small amount of introspective sadness to them. Surely something was not quite right with her, and it made Kaori worry somewhat considering how Sakaki's mood seemed to have taken a slightly downbeat tone almost out of nowhere, "Sakaki-san… if there's something bothering you, please tell me. I promise I'll listen."

Sakaki glanced at Kaori's sincere face for a second, but turned her eyes back toward the pond, "Thank you for the concern, Kaori… but really, it's nothing at all."

"Please, Sakaki-san. I wish you didn't try to hide your troubles like that. I can see something's on your mind. Something troubling. You know it could make you feel better if you just told me what it is. Please?" Kaori gently coaxed.

Sakaki hesitated a moment more, but seemed to cave in finally, "I was just thinking… do you ever think you'll find that someone special to share your life with?"

"W-what!?" Kaori choked, not really expecting a question like that.

"I mean… It was just something that I wondered… As in is there any truth in what people say that everybody has somebody in this world they belong with? A… soul mate or something…?" Sakaki said somewhat melancholically.

"Umm… well… I guess… maybe… I… I don't know really…" Kaori stammered, being a bit lost for proper words.

Sakaki sighed deeply, "It's nothing, really. Just a thought I've sometimes entertained… That you may walk your entire life on this planet and never chance to find that one person to feel… whole with. Happy with… to share your secrets and trust with… You know, just somebody to… to… maybe… just c-cuddle up with… or something… maybe you see what I mean. I… I guess it sounds a little silly… But after all this time of not having anybody like that… It kind of would just be… nice. It would be nice… to experience. Not to mention it seems at times like I've almost been left off the relationship train that makes me wonder about it more often than usual recently. I guess that's all really," Sakaki quietly spoke, her face turning redder by the moment, while keeping her gaze directed straight in front of her.

Kaori listened mutely as Sakaki's words bombarded into her with a quiet efficiency. Why was Sakaki suddenly bringing this issue out? Soul mates and special someones and cuddles… just the thoughts Kaori wanted to avoid with Sakaki… not to mention it brought once more to the surface her own pitiful loneliness she rather didn't want to think about.

"And I guess I'm also just a little jealous of the others," Sakaki added.

"The others?"

"Mmm… like Osaka's already found hers and they're very happy together… And I've heard from Chiyo that she's seeing some American boy… Max I think she said his name is. Even Tomo, Yomi and Kagura have had better success than me… I just… would like to get to experience the same… even once…" Sakaki said as she fell silent, turned her gaze to her side slightly embarrassed at what she had just said and instead focused her eyes on the ducks wandering nearby.

Kaori looked at Sakaki a moment longer as she stopped talking, feeling a small element of understanding enveloping her for their similar situations in life. Kaori had to admit that she too was lonely as Sakaki apparently was, and she too would have liked to have someone special like that beside her. Just someone to fill an empty void she knew was there, but which she tried to reason away with cold logic. Yet at the end of the day, what did she really have? Astronomy and a cold, empty apartment. Was that enough? Kaori had to wonder.

Turning her head away from Sakaki to hide her own growing blush – though Sakaki wasn't exactly looking at her anyway – Kaori started talking in a hushed tone, seemingly more to herself than to the other woman, "I think I can understand that, Sakaki-san… It's not silly at all. I… I guess I can sympathise with what you said. After all, it's not like my love life is really all that active either. Not that I can't be happy alone, but… maybe it _would _be nice to have somebody like you described. Just so you could… share your problems with someone. Or your moments of happiness. Or to have somebody wrap their arms around you and keep you warm during evenings… Just to love someone and be loved back… To feel the closeness of another human being… to long to trust somebody you can consider your own, and with whom to share your life's situations with. I… I guess it's not very scientific, but… well…I suppose some things in life aren't supposed to be. I don't know… Whether you'll find your soul mate I suppose is a question of perception… Mathematically the odds are probably against you… but… I think sometimes you just need to trust in fate. Or just keep on hoping… even against hope… maybe the dreamers can get lucky sometimes…"

Descending into a slight apathetic state, Kaori stopped talking, still facing away from Sakaki, and feeling the years seemingly just piling over her body second by second. Lonely years filled with empty hopes and ruined dreams with no promise for better… no matter how much she rationally tried to deny the existence of these feelings. It all was just overwhelmed by a future that seemed to promise as little change as the past had given her reason to expect it. Was that truly all there was ever going to be, Kaori sadly thought. She hoped not, but she couldn't rationally close the possibility away completely, either. Her moment of depressive apathy, however, didn't last very long as she forcefully reminded herself of where she was, perking up as much as she could, and turning her head back toward Sakaki, "But never mind… I'm sure you'll… you'll… huh?"

To Kaori's infinite surprise, where she had expected to again meet the imposing façade of Sakaki, she instead was faced with… nothing. Sakaki wasn't there. A bit puzzled, Kaori sat up and looked around her. Indeed, it didn't take a lot of searching to spot Sakaki having moved away from the blanket, and being now seemingly walking toward the pond for some reason – though hunched down and with an extended arm, curiously enough, as if she had suddenly decided to indulge in some kind of ex tempore performance art.

"What's she doing…?" Kaori asked herself before calling out to Sakaki, "Sakaki-san! What are you doing? Where are you going? Sakaki-san!"

Sakaki didn't seem to hear, though, as her attention was now entirely absorbed by the wobbling duck moving in front of her, clearly heading toward the safety of water. Trying to not spook the bird, Sakaki moved as slowly as the duck while trying to reach out her hand to touch it. Sakaki had petted many animals in her life thanks to her pet shop, but she had never been able to try out a duck, and every past attempt had always been met with failure. She didn't really care about possible germs, the idea truthfully not really crossing her mind at the moment, as she just wanted to quickly touch it to see how it felt like. To just gently graze that fascinating looking cover the bird had. _"Please__…__ wait__…__" _she tried to telepathically send out, but the bird didn't seem to hear or understand.

Then, just like always, the edge of the pond was there, and the duck promptly jumped in. Not wanting to be faced with another failure so close, Sakaki reached her hand further over the edge, trying to even slightly brush the silky-looking feathers of the duck that now hovered just inches beyond her reach. So far did she reach that finally the expected happened and she ended up loosing her balance, teetering on the edge of the water, while trying to regain her lost equilibrium as gravity was inexorably pulling her in the other direction.

Kaori had been observing all of this somewhat confused, but seeing Sakaki in danger of falling in the pond, she was suddenly zapped with some hidden energy as she immediately got up and raced to her rescue without a second thought, "Sakaki-san!!" Reaching her just as Sakaki was about to flounder over the edge, Kaori managed to luckily grab Sakaki's shirt… only to have the laws of physics finally win over the battle a fraction of a second later, causing both girls to yell out and then fall head first into the water in a splashy heap.

– O –

Walking down the street was not the most reassuring moment either of the two women had ever experienced. Having rather thoroughly been drenched from top to bottom, they had decided best to just wrap up the whole picnic thing and head on back home again. And even if the sun was shining down on them warmly, it wasn't sweltering enough to dry either of them up any time soon, so fearing the possibility of a cold was enough to make them rather not risk it and sought rather to get dry clothing as soon as possible.

However, this wasn't actually the most pressing reason to choose this mode of action for the two women… or perhaps not so much for Sakaki, than it was for Kaori. You see, as much as Sakaki's denim shorts and similar sleeveless top were uncomfortable to wear wet, Kaori's soaked dress had the unfortunate side effect of turning rather… transparent.

It was assuredly embarrassing to the ninth degree to let everybody have pretty much free visibility through her garments and not really being able to do anything about it. Certainly Kaori didn't really like parading her body around the streets like that and did her best to try and hide behind Sakaki's tall body, but it was definitely not a very effective or reassuring cover. Now Kaori wished they had taken the car instead of having walked there, her face having adopted a consistent beet colour all throughout that wasn't about to go away anytime soon.

After as brisk a walk as they could safely manage without drawing too much attention to themselves, the two arrived at Kaori's apartment. Kaori was quick to get up the steps to her front door to open it, while Sakaki followed in her trail.

"Please, come in," Kaori invited as she got the door open as Sakaki reached the top, both women unhesitatingly stepping inside the safety of the house. "Whaaaauh!! Safe at last!" Kaori exclaimed in relief.

"Mmm…" Sakaki simply responded.

Without wasting much time in getting out of her embarrassing dress as quickly as possible, Kaori quickly excused herself, bidding Sakaki to make herself comfortable, and promptly disappeared into her bedroom.

Sakaki, though, was left somewhat oddly uncomfortable alone there in Kaori's living room as she didn't quite know what she should in actuality do to make herself comfortable. Should she sit down? Her clothes were still very damp due to the denim being rather absorbant material so maybe that wouldn't be exactly a good idea. Then should she just stand around? Seemed kind of aimless. Or maybe pretend to do something or look around some… maybe…

But before Sakaki managed to reach a satisfying resolution, Kaori emerged from her private quarters, now dressed in a simple T-shirt and shorts, while carrying a bundle of other clothing in her arms.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," she said amicably.

Sakaki just nodded dismissingly as Kaori continued, "I've got some extra change for you as well. I figured you'd probably like to put on something drier…"

"Oh, no. Really, Kaori, I'm fine…" Sakaki tried to dismiss the need.

"No, no, it's no bother at all. I'd be happy to borrow something of my own. Look. Here's a T-shirt that's a bit over-sized for me, but should fit you pretty well… and here's a skirt that goes all the way down to my ankles, so it should be good on you since our waists aren't really that different in size… Umm… I don't think my underwear's really fitting on you, though…" Kaori said blushing.

"No no no! That's… that's fine… I… I'll bare the… the wet underwear…" Sakaki interrupted equally embarrassed at the thought.

"O-okay…" Kaori said meekly as she handed Sakaki the dry clothing. Sakaki graciously accepted them and upon Kaori's beckoning retreated to the bedroom Kaori had previously been changing clothing at.

A few minutes later Sakaki emerged herself, now wearing Kaori's clothes that were over-sized enough to fit on the taller woman without seeming too small on her.

"Ah, do the clothes feel good, Sakaki-san?" Kaori asked as Sakaki stepped into the room.

"Mmm… they're fine," Sakaki responded, "Thank you for lending them to me."

"Oh, no problem at all. I'm glad to be able to help," Kaori beamed. "Chocolate milk?"

"Oh, thank you," Sakaki said as she accepted the drink Kaori had quickly prepared during Sakaki's absence and, after taking a small sip from the glass, added a bit more regretfully, "And… let me just apologise to you one more time, Kaori."

"Ah, no. It's… it's all right. You don't need to apologise," Kaori reassured.

"Yes I do. It was my fault we had to cut our picnic short like that. Not to mention the discomfort you had to go through on the way back…" Sakaki said with shame in her voice.

"Please, Sakaki-san. Don't worry about it. I'm not angry at you or anything. It's all okay," Kaori said weightily before Sakaki grudgingly accepted to not blame herself… too much.

Seating themselves down on the sofa, they sipped their drinks for a while in silence, neither really knowing what to say, before Kaori cautiously inquired, "Sakaki-san? Are… are you okay?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes… I wasn't injured in any way."

"No, I mean… before that. You just seemed a bit… out of it back at the park. You know… just before the swim."

"Oh…" Sakaki blushed, "I'm sorry about that… I guess… maybe I just phased off there for a moment. I didn't really mean to do that."

"You sure? I mean, you want to talk about it some more?" Kaori asked sincerely.

Sakaki simply offered a reassuring smile and said, "No, it is all right. Sometimes I just think of things that may put me off a bit… but I'm fine now, really. Sorry for making you worry."

Kaori thought to question her a bit more, but decided against it as she didn't really want to face those same depressing questions again right now, instead opting to just gently smile back and say, "It's okay, Sakaki-san. It was no problem at all. Oh, and you know – just as a side note now that I thought about it – you really should learn to try not to apologise to me so much."

"Umm… yes… Sorry… ah… oh, sorry… no… ah… umm… I mean…" Sakaki mumbled, seemingly not being able to escape from the "sorry" limbo.

Kaori simply smiled back and, hearing Sakaki stumbling about in her words, gave a happy giggle at the amusingness of it all, and shortly thereafter drawing Sakaki into the laughter as well, "What'd I just say?"

"Guess it's just in my nature," Sakaki concluded good-humouredly.

Kaori accepted this with a smile and, after another small sip of her cool drink, added, "But I did have a good time today. Thank you for taking me out like this, Sakaki-san."

"Mmm… It's alright. I figured you could use it. Particularly after the last couple of weeks," Sakaki said.

"Very considerate of you. It did do me good to unwind a little. I get to do so little of these sorts of things that anything like this is a thing to cherish," Kaori said happily.

"Mmm… I'm glad to hear that."

"In fact, it almost makes me want to return the favour in someway."

"Oh, really, you don't need to…" Sakaki panicked, not wanting to be a bother to her obviously busy friend.

"No, no. I want to. It'd be the least I could do after you've been so kind to me these past few days. And actually I think I have the perfect idea how to repay to you, too," Kaori said back, putting on a somewhat sly smile.

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm. Yes, I do. Sakaki-san… How would you like to… come see the Triad with me next Saturday?" Kaori slowly said, emphasising the message she wanted to convey.

"What?" Sakaki asked puzzled.

"You know. Join me at the observatory. How about it?"

"Umm… I don't want to be any trouble…"

"You won't be. I assure you. Besides… this is an event of a lifetime. I guarantee you'll never see anything like this again. I know if it was offered to me I'd take it without hesitation."

"You're an astronomer. Of course you would," Sakaki mentioned sarcastically.

"…Well… even so. Come on, Sakaki-san. I know you'll like it. I promise it'll be something you will never forget. And you'd get the best seat in the house, not afforded to just anybody," Kaori said compellingly.

Sakaki hesitated a moment longer, but then opted to give a smile and said, "Well… I suppose it would be rude of me to say no to such a gracious invitation. And I guess it might be very interesting… All right. If you're sure it'll be okay."

"It won't be a problem. And I'm sure you'll love it. Kaori's word of honour," Kaori finished, forming the victory sign with her fingers.

– O –

_At 3.47 pm, seven girls stand in line at the bus stop and dance the stomp._

_

* * *

So, there you have it. Lots of things happened, some minor, some bearing kernels of major issues between the two characters I'm hoping on expanding as I go along. Let's just hope the next chapter will not have to wait until 2010 to get done. Until then, peace!_


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